stuart james beall

• Basmati Rice.
• Yellow onions.
• Jalapeño peppers.
• Red bell pepper.
• Frozen corn.
• Fresh or frozen diced carrots.
• Fresh garlic cloves.
• Fresh green onions.
• Frozen green peas.
• toasted sesame oil.
• salted butter.
• Low-sodium soy sauce (or Bragg Liquid Aminos).
• sea salt.
• oyster sauce.
• Sri Lankan Curry Powder.

I start with a good automatic rice cooker. Measure three cups of uncooked Basmati rice, with water. Follow directions for your cooker, and cook on the white rice setting. Allow rice to cool, put into a food storage container and store in refrigerator overnight.

Next, get a large wok ready on your stovetop. I use the Lodge cast iron wok. Turn on the heat to low, and put about 6 Tablespoons of salted butter into wok.

Peel and dice a large carrot, and add to wok. Chop a large purple onion, and add to wok. You could use Vidalia or Walla Walla onions instead. Split two jalapeño peppers, and remove the stems and seeds. Discard seeds. Slice the peppers and add to wok. Chop a red bell pepper, and add to wok.

Put about 2 Cups of frozen corn into wok. Put about 2 Cups of frozen peas into wok.

Measure 1 Tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, and 2 Tablespoons of Sri Lankan Curry Powder into wok. This is the key ingredient. I use Aachi brand curry powder. If your store-branded curry blend doesn’t actually have curry leaf in it, throw it away!

Turn up the heat to medium high. While the wok is heating up, stir up the veggies well, using a bamboo spatula. Cook for about 6 minutes, and don’t let it burn. Turn down the heat to low. Peel about 8 fresh cloves of garlic. Mince cloves with a knife, and put into wok.

Put cooked rice into wok. Measure out about 2 Tablespoons of oyster sauce, and 8 Tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce. Stir all ingredients well with the rice, and cover with lid.

Chop or slice 6 or 8 green onions, and set aside in a separate bowl. I actually cut them with a kitchen scissor.

After about 10 minutes, stir the rice and vegetables. Add a little water to encourage steam, turn off heat, and stir in the chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

For convenience you can use frozen bags of diced vegetables, instead of fresh. You might substitute hot pepper oil (olive oil infused with chili peppers) for the butter.