Indian Vegetable Fried Rice – Meatless Monday
If I say that these are ridiculously easy vegetable fried rice, I am not kidding. This recipe of Indian vegetable fried rice is a perfect clean out the fridge recipe. There are so many of my recipes that are born out of necessity. Necessity to use up whatever I have on hand. I am telling you all that I have a problem. The problem of not letting anything go bad. This problem is made more complicated by buying a lot of fresh produce in the first place.
If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram, I post our dinner pictures there quite often. If you do not follow me, I would say why you do not. Go here for Facebook and here for Instagram. Anywho, few evenings ago, I posted this picture of our “katori lunch”. We take out all the katoris (Hindi for bowls) from the refrigerator and plan the whole meal around the katoris. I usually have leftover rice in the fridge. You see I am the only true rice lover in our family. The other three members of the kitchen docs family enjoy roti better than rice. I normally make a batch of rice (use this method or this) one evening to last me all week. About a fourth cup of cooked rice with my daal (recipes here and here) satisfies my craving. I am a carb lover for sure!
Recipe run down:
The real reason I love this Indian vegetable fried rice is because it’s a quick, easy meal. We are happy to sit down with a bowl of this dish, accompanied with some homemade yogurt, call it dinner done. It has veggies, grains and if you want to make it even more filling, then go ahead and add some eggs. You can use whatever veggies you like. Onions, carrots, and tomatoes are must haves. What makes this vegetable-fried rice “Indian”? It is all in the spices – first, we start with ginger and garlic and then the addition of garam masala, a big squeeze of lime, and cilantro pretty much seals the deal. Here is a handy dandy printable for you:
Indian Vegetable Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 medium red onion sliced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 cup (packed) baby spinach
- 1 cob of corn kernels cut off with a sharp knife See notes
- 1 zucchini cut into four lengthwise and sliced
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 4 cups leftover cooked white rice
- 1 teaspoon toasted cumin powder See notes
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 10 sprigs cilantro leaves stripped and chopped
- ½ lime juiced
Instructions
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Set a heavy bottomed skillet (cast iron or non stick) on medium high heat and add the oil.
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Once the oil is nice and shiny add cumin seeds and wit for them to splutter.
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Add in ginger, garlic and green chili (see notes).
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Add onions, carrots, corn and zucchini and saute for about 2-3 minutes.
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Mix in spinach and cook till spinach is wilted and the moisture evaporates, another 3 minutes.
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Now add the tomatoes and cook for another minute.
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Add rice, break up any large clumps of rice and add all the seasonings. Mix well and heat until the rice and nice and hot, about 2 minutes.
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Add chopped cilantro and lime juice. Mix, check and adjust salt if needed.
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Serve hot!
Recipe Notes
You can use frozen corn if it is not in season. Use about 1 cup.
Use a chili of hotness level you desire – jalapeno, serrano, or thai.
Find how to make toasted cumin powder here
Simple isn’t it? So next time you have some leftover rice and some veggies in the freezer, gice this a try, will you? If not, what are some of your favorite dishes to make with leftovers?
Love – Vaishali.
Tools used:
Knives: 
Skillets: 
Measuring cups: 
Healthy Medilife
September 17, 2018 at 1:02 amIndian foods are always delicious !
Vegetable fried rice looking very delicious , I like it
Krish
September 17, 2018 at 1:41 amI love your presentations and the recipe…more so I can relate to what you write…most of us indian families are so used to “katori” lunch and fried rice dinners….
God bless you
Nancy_ycnan
September 17, 2018 at 5:38 amWonderful sharing! Thank you very much for this amazing article. What a good post I am rice lover
Sarah
March 31, 2019 at 2:48 pmThis looks delicious!
Shira Nan
September 17, 2018 at 5:42 amIt sort of like fried rice from malaysia too so I totally can relate to itm ok best of luck dear
Denise R Caldwell
September 17, 2018 at 8:48 amYour clean-out-the-frig rice recipe with spice tips is a keeper! Love it! I will be trying it very soon!
Evelyn Hernandez
September 17, 2018 at 8:53 pmLooks perfect for Meatless Monday or any day where I dont feel like having meat.
Joanna
September 21, 2018 at 1:34 pmIt does sound like a very filling and healthy recipe. I like that it’s so easy to make and that you can add whatever vegetables you have in the house.
Sarah Bailey
September 21, 2018 at 2:16 pmNow this sounds like an absolutely delicious idea for a way to make rice – the perfect side dish to a meal or a way just to enjoy rice on its own.
Amber Myers
September 21, 2018 at 2:27 pmOh yum, this sounds incredible. I just love fried rice. I’ll have to give this version a try sometime.
Jessica Joachim
September 21, 2018 at 5:27 pmThis Indian Fried Rice looks absolutely delicious! I am a sucker for Indian food, and this looks like something that I would really love!
Monidipa Dutta
September 21, 2018 at 7:43 pmThis vegetable fried rice looks very delicious. I would totally give this recipe a try. I totally agree with you, I too can’t throw the food away.
Jayashree Sengupta
September 22, 2018 at 1:51 amFried rice is my favorite dish. I am good in making too. Will try this tomorrow definitely. Sunday is our special dish’s day.
Kathleen
September 22, 2018 at 3:13 amBy the looks of it, it looks so delicious! I’d love to cook this for my fiancé! Thanks for the recipe ☺️
kumamonjeng
September 22, 2018 at 3:38 amI love how there are plenty of healthy ingredient being added into this dish. Would love to try this out one day but first I need to get some toasted cumin powder and garam masala powder.
Traci
September 22, 2018 at 8:25 amLooks delicious! So many good ingredients!
Urmila deven
September 22, 2018 at 9:05 amthanks, i will cook it soon as per your way…
Maartje
September 22, 2018 at 9:20 amThis looks so good! 🙂 Definitely making this sometime soon!
Emma
September 22, 2018 at 10:33 amI love doing “leftover” fried rice. Can’t wait to try this spice combo. 🙂
TessaG
September 22, 2018 at 3:41 pmAs a vegetarian with gluten sensitivities, this looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it out – I love Indian food!
Devyani Ray
September 22, 2018 at 5:10 pmI am in love with your recipes. I am trying this tonight!
Stephanie | Adventures in Aussieland
September 23, 2018 at 1:32 amThis recipe sounds absolutely incredible! I will definitely be giving it a go for dinner tonight.
Becca Wilson
September 23, 2018 at 9:02 amThis rice looks like it would be so delicious. I would really love to give this a try.
Debby
September 23, 2018 at 1:09 pmThis dish looks fantastic. I wanted to try to make it but I am not a very good cook. I usually try to make things with less than 5 ingredients so I miss out on a lot of great recipes!
Fran Jorgensen
September 23, 2018 at 2:54 pmThis is so yum! It would be the best recipe for my kids! They love all the ingredients of this dish and it looks simple to cook on a weekday. Thank you for sharing!
swathi
September 23, 2018 at 6:23 pmGood vegetable fried rice is always my best treat, your recipe sounds not only delicious but also with full of veggies, I love it.
Kitty
September 24, 2018 at 8:22 amThat look yummy… I am always in for Indian vegetable fried rice.. I do it a bit differently but I would definitely try your version … I am really craving for it right now 😀
jeff
September 24, 2018 at 12:23 pmlooks pretty great. Add a cpl eggs and some fruit and it’d be a good breakfast
Ruth I
September 26, 2018 at 11:21 amThis looks so good! I’ve been wanting to try some Indian dishes, I know the food is always delicious!
Tinklez
March 1, 2019 at 11:54 pmThis is so good. I will definitely try this one and definitely, it’s going to taste delicious.
DinoDidWhat
March 31, 2019 at 6:46 pmI JUST LOVE INDIAN CUISINES! i love it.. and the pictures just made it worse for me.
Deema
March 31, 2019 at 10:58 pmMy eleven month old loves fried rice! I’m definitely going to try this as it looks wayyy healthier!
Elizabeth O
April 1, 2019 at 6:07 amA perfect breakfast for a vegan like me. Looks enticing to me
Matija Antonić
April 1, 2019 at 9:29 amThis looks like an amazing recipe, and so easy to make 😀 it’s perfect for that vegetarian friends that come to dinner 😀
Hackytips
April 1, 2019 at 10:31 amI always prepare fried rice in Chinese style. This looks different. I will try it. Thanks for the recipe.
Ishani Nath
April 1, 2019 at 2:13 pmLooks delicious and tempting, will definitely try at home. I really love all your Recipes. Wish I could eat that too 😊😊
Ann
April 2, 2019 at 3:02 amI love everything with rice. Must try doing this one
Alexine
April 3, 2019 at 3:19 pmThis looks so good!! I love to cook meatless fried rice and getting to know this recipe I mean with a touch of Indian culture it’s just amazing how it can be very appealing and healhty at the same time!
Vaishali
April 3, 2019 at 6:07 pmThanks for your kind words Alexine. I hope you like it..<3
matthew ukwadia
July 2, 2019 at 9:59 amThis looks delicious, would really love to taste india ricea as it’s quite different from rice in Africa; this rice looks longer