Stir Fried Leftover Rice / Bhaja Bhat

In my schooldays Ma often made Bhaja Bhat in our breakfast or evening snack, mainly because we such nuisances that almost every day we used to nag our mother to do something special in the evening. Bhaja Bhat was quick to make and it was a great way to feed us veggies since we were kids and eating veggies always topped our hatelist.

Now I make Bhaja Bhat for husbands’s lunchbox. And there is a good amount of leftover rice I just sauté them with some veggies for our lunch or dinner. It so much like Fried Rice rice but its light and very simple in taste. It takes almost no time to be prepared, if your veggies are ready in the fridge and just an omelette or fried fish can make this a complete meal.

Later when I started teaching kids, I found out many moms do this rice dish for their kids. One of my students was so addicted towards this stirfried rice that on every Sunday morning when I used to go to her house, her mother used to give both of us some Bhaja Bhat. I love this till now and whenever I make it for the lunchbox I keep some for mine to cherish later.

Bhaja Bhat / Quick Stirfried Leftover Rice

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

2 and ½ cups of cooked rice

2 eggs

1 small onion – sliced

2 cloves of garlic – minced

½ tsp ginger – minced

A handful of green peas

A handful of sweet corn

2-3 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns

A handful of chopped coriander leaves

½ of a small carrot – chopped

Some French beans – chopped

Salt

2 tbsp butter / oil / ghee

Method:

Break and whisk the eggs in a cup.

In a kadai heat 2 tsp oil and pour in the whisked eggs. Slowly cook them on low flame and then tear them up to make small pieces. Once they are perfectly scrambled transfer them to a plate and keep aside.

In the same kadai heat the butter and add in the sliced onions. Cook them on low flame till they become translucent and then add the minced ginger and garlic.

Sauté for a few seconds or until the raw garlic flavour is gone.

Now take all your veggies and throw them inside of the kadai. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over them and put the flame on medium.

Cook them till they soften a little but still have their crunch. This will take around 2-3 minutes. Add a dash of water if required to keep the cooking continue.

When the veggies are ready add the cooked leftover rice and the scrambled eggs to them and mix in.

Cook the rice for 2 minutes maximum. Do not stir them too much or otherwise the rice will become mushy.

Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and some salt and pepper over the rice as per required and put off the flame.