Priyanka Naik’s Indo-Chinese Pulao from The Modern Tiffin is a fusion recipe combining the best of Indian and Chinese cuisines. The dish uses leftover rice and elevates it with sautéed vegetables, garlic, ginger, and Indian green chilies for a spicy kick.

The addition of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar introduces classic Chinese flavors, while ingredients like cashews, sesame oil, and scallions add a delightful crunch and aroma. This versatile recipe is perfect for using up leftovers, and you can easily customize it with your favorite vegetables.

Ideal for packed lunches or meal prep, this pulao is flavorful, quick to make, and packs well. The dish balances sweet, savory, and spicy notes, offering a delicious and satisfying plant-based meal. Using day-old rice ensures the grains stay separate and soak up all the seasonings. Garnishing with fresh cilantro and scallions adds a burst of freshness that ties everything together.

Indo-Chinese Pulao

Indian cuisine has it's own fried rice called masala rice or wahgarni anna. This recipe combines Indian fried rice with classic Chinese-American style fried rice. The Indo-Chinese pulao blends Indian spices with Chinese flavors, using leftover rice and fresh vegetables. It’s an easy, flavorful vegan dish perfect for any occasion.

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Servings

Ingredients

2 tsp neutral oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 Indian green chilies slit in half lengthwise
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 ½-inch piece fresh ginger peeled and sliced
1 small yellow onion diced
1 small carrot diced
2 tbsp raw unsalted cashews coarsely chopped
2 tbsp green peas
1 scallion thinly sliced on the bias, white and green parts separated
¾ cup leftover white rice see notes
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
½ tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp raw cane sugar
Pinch of white pepper
Kosher salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh cilantro coarsely chopped

Instructions

Make the veggies

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the neutral and sesame oils. Once the oil is shimmering with ripples, lower the heat to medium and add the green chilies, garlic, and ginger.
Sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the onion, carrot, and cashews and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent. Stir in the peas and the white parts of the scallion.

Rice it up

Once the vegetables are fork-tender, add the rice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and white pepper. Give it a vigorous toss, making sure everything is incorporated and nothing is sticking to the pan. After 1 minute, give it a taste. Add salt if necessary.

Garnish and serve

Remove from the heat and place into your tiffin or a shallow serving bowl. Garnish with the remaining green part of the scallions and the cilantro.

This recipe is best when using day-old rice, like leftover rice from takeout/delivery. If you need to make fresh rice, wash 1/3 cup basmati rice in water at least 5 times or until the water runs clear. Soak for 30 minutes. Then pour 2/3 cup water into a small pot, and add the rice and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until fluffy, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely before using for this recipe.

Green arbol chili peppers or serrano chili peppers can be substituted for Indian green chilies.

Excerpted from THE MODERN TIFFIN: On-the-Go Vegan Dishes with a Global Flair. Copyright @ 2024 by Priyanka Naik. Photography Copyright © 2024 by Melissa Hom. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

Read more: 30 Vegan Weeknight Dinner Ideas

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The Author

Priyanka Naik

Priyanka Naik is a self-taught Indian vegan cook, Food Network champion, Quibi Dishmantled Winner, and Today show featured chef. She is a food and TV personality, who hosts Dish it Healthy with Priyanka Naik a Tastemade original clean-eating food show on Food Network Kitchen. An avid traveler who’s been to nearly forty countries, her globally inspired original recipes, with a focus on sustainability, have been featured on her blog Chef Priyanka, IGTV—hosting her own digital series “Cook With Chef Pri at 3,” and are incorporated into her regular speaking appearances. She has garnered attention from and been featured on the Today show, CNN, Forbes, GQ, The Beet, Well + Good, Medium, and more. She has partnered with several brands, including Coca-Cola, Amazon, and Uniqlo for brand campaigns. Priyanka is first-generation, Indian American, raised on Staten Island, New York, and has two elder sisters. Her Indian heritage is very important to her cooking style and lifestyle, so much so that she even learned her native language of Kannada before English and weaves in Indian elements throughout all of her original vegan cooking. She attributes her devotion to her Indian roots and passion for Indian food to her loving and supportive parents.

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