Fried rice isn't a big deal

I discovered that this is going to be the easiest and quickly made variety rice, especially when you are running short of time.

There was a time when I kept wondering what makes this dish so very mouth-watering. Well, its time to explore. Nothing much, its the Soy sauce and Ajinomoto which gives it the 'yumm' taste. But I am not using either of them, not because that I don't have them both right now; but I felt the fried rice comes out well even without them.

All You need is:
Boiled rice - As per the head count (Just make sure its not too boiled or sticky)
Carrots - cut them into longer thinner pieces
Green beans - same as carrots, but remember that beans takes more time to get cooked that carrots
Capsicum - I prefer smaller cubes, how about you
Spring onions - Aaah, now this guy is the hero. Cut them smaller to mix up well with the rice.
Ginger - I prefer adding ginger in most dishes for easier digestion. Oh come on, not in my cakes.
Green chillies - Size similar to carrots
Pepper - I like it pepper hot.
Salt - If its American made then 2 spoons, else if its Indian then 3 spoons. I have no idea why. Purely out of experience and taste.
Oil - Gingely oil
Ghee - Just a spoon for its aroma. Only for guests, not for you.


Get started:
A kadai/pan would do. Add oil and heat it.
Add half the pepper and ginger.
Add the veggies - carrots, beans and saute it for 1 minute.
Add a little bit of water, close the lid and let cook for 2 minutes. (On the contrary, you can boil these 2 veggies separately before and keep it ready. But remember that, neither of the veggies should be over-cooked. Remember eating it in a Chinese restaurant?)
Remove lid, add capsicum and the remaining pepper. You can add a spoonful of ghee at this stage. Saute and close lid again. Let cook for a minute.
Now add the rice. Mix well. Add salt. Reduce the heat.
Taste a spoonful to check if the salt and pepper has covered the rice and veggies well.
If no, add more.


In restaurants, fried rice is served with tomato sauce. Being truly Indians from the south, we prefer raitha with it. Especially boondhi raitha. Here you go. Decorate the rice as you like before serving or grab a spoonful right from the stove.

Other methods:

OK, now you don't have all these veggies. Say you just have beans. Well, repeat the process. Maybe you can add some chopped onions to fill the dish.Well that's not going to be a traditional fried rice. But who cares. Enjoy your meal as per your taste.

Neeya Naana Photos

Here I am attaching a few pictures that I shot during the great event. Fetna had organized it for 3 days, of which we could not cover most of the third day event, as my husband who was curious in shooting me on stage met with a small injury while he was coming down the stairs. Hence, immediately after my show was over we had to head to the nearby hospital. Well, I had to experience the point which I had told in the debate. In this lonely land, without a single person to support I had to manage the entire scene alone. Isn't that "Munnetram(progress)"?

In the photos : I am the first person sitting in the second row, right side, center stage (in a lovely green saree presented by my Mom-in-law).

Find more pictures in this FETNA link of day 2 images. Neeya Naana comes immediately after 'Kattabomman's images.

Me on 'Neeya Naana'

This year the North American Tamil Vizha was conducted in Atlanta by FETNA (www.fetna.org ); on July 3rd, 4Th and 5Th at the Georgia Tech University campus. Popular personalities like Scientist Mayilsamy, poet Vairamuthu, Actors Jeeva Pasupathi and many others were part of it. And it was a very happy occasion for me, being a part of it. Volunteering on day 1, I was there to take part in Neeya Naana, a popular TV show(Star Vijay television) conducted by this eminent TV personality, Gopinath(popularly known as Neeya Naana Gopinath).

"Americavil kudi peyarthadhal adhigam munnetram adaindhadhu Aangala, Pengala?" (Who has succeeded more after moving to America - Men or Women?) was the topic given. Well, if you ask, my personal opinion would be - Men! But I was put in Pengale (Women) side of the debate and trust me, I could not think of a single point to support my side of the topic, till the day. Finally I came up with this point...Checkout the video. The last person speaking in this video is me. The video not being that clear, you can find me on the right side, second row, center stage, first person.

09/09/09

Notepads, scrapbooks, excel sheets, word documents would have flashed these fancy calendar dates 01/01/01, 02/02/02 and so on...,in the past 8 years... But the next time will have to be the 1st 12 years of 21st century(well, don't ask me if we are already in 21st century. I meant the CC of the CCYY being 21). This century has three more years to celebrate this little fun (10/10/10, 11/11/11 and 12/12/12), while we are on 09/09/09. Oops, I guess I am messing up somewhere. Let me sit and think.............................

No one knows how 01/01/3001 is going to be or even if the earth would still be there. But we are here today to celebrate these fancy dates.