Bengali Mixed(Eggs-Chicken-Prawn) Fried Rice

They say, if you have Chinese food at Calcutta's China Town, then you will never enjoy the "Authentic" Chinese food else where.Long back we - parents had come to Calcutta,sister and the One(my wife) - went to Beijing and we ordered the Mixed Fried Rice.The taste of that Chinese Mixed Rice still lingers till date.This is an ode to that only excepting the fact that this is very much "Bengalised".Mixed Fried Rice in Calcutta's food jargon means a fried rice containing - vegetables,eggs,chicken and prawn.The presence of prawns add a unique aroma and flavour to this dish, especially because prawn is an extremely flavour filled item.
The type of prawn used is the "Kucho" Chingri(English: Shrimps) variety - the smallest ones available in the market.

Servings: 2

Preparation Time: 1 hr to 1 hr15mins.
Cooking Time: 15 mins.

Ingredients
Preparing the rice:

• Rice: 200 gms.Use good quality Basmati rice.Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.
• Beans - 50 gms.Cut into very small(1/4th inch in length) pieces
• Carrot - 50 gms. Sliced into long pieces.
• Peas - 50 gms(Seeds only).
• Cashew Nuts - 50 gms
• Soaked Raisins - 25 gms
• Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp.
• Vegetable Oil - 1 tb sp.
• Melted Ghee - 2 tb sp.
• Sugar - 1 to 1.5 tsp depending upon the amount of sweetness desired.
• Salt - to taste

Egg Ingredients:

• Eggs - 2
• Onion - 1 medium sized(50 gms).Diced.
• Green Chilli - 2.Sliced into small pieces

Chicken Ingredients:

• Boneless Chicken: 100 gms.Cut into 12-15 pieces.Marinade the chicken in 2 tsp vinegar and salt tp taste for an hour before cooking.
• Black Pepper Powder: 2 tsp.
• Garlic: 3-4 cloves.Crushed.
• Diced Onion: 1 medium sized(50 gms)
• Green Chilli - 2.Slit.
• Vinegar: 2 tsp
• Vegetable Oil - 3 tb sp.
• Salt: To taste

Shrimps Ingredients:

• Shrimps - 100 gms.Cleaned and dried.Coat the prawns with the turmeric powder and salt to taste and keep aside for 10 mins.
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.
• Back Pepper Powder - 1 tsp.
• Salt- According to taste.
• Vegetable Oil - 2 tb sp for frying the prawns lightly. 1 tb sp for preparing the gravy.
• Onion- 1 medium(50 gms).Half of it made into a fine paste.The remaining half diced.
• Garlic - 2 cloves.Crushed.
• Ginger - A 1/4th inch piece.Crushed.
• Tomato - 25 gms.Paste/Pureed.
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp or a Pinch.

Whole Spices:

• Bay leaf - 1
• Green Cardamon - 3.
• Cinnamon Stick - One 1 inch piece.

Preparation:
Rice(15-20 mins):

• Prepare rice like it is normally done - but add 1 tb sp of ghee and salt to taste during preparing.Spread it on plates under a fan so that the remaining moisture is vapourized and the rice becomes dry.

Vegetables(10-15 mins):

• Lightly steam the Beans,carrot and peas in some boiling water and add salt to the boiling water for 10 mins.This will ensure taste in the vegetables.Once steamed, remove the vegetables and dry it in a wide plate.

Eggs:

• Beat the eggs,sliced onions and green chillies along with a pinch of salt for a minute.
• In one table spoon of oil, add the batter and continue stirring until the egg becomes shredded into small pieces.
• Put aside the shredded egg in a container.

Chicken(45 mins):

• Heat the vegetable oil in a pan.
• Once the oil is hot, add the crushed garlic and slit green chillies.
• When the smell of garlic evolves, add the diced onion.
• Stir for sometime, till the onion turns brown.
• Then add the boneless chicken pieces.
• Increase the heat to high and continue cooking till the point the chicken turns brown.
• Add the black pepper powder and stir well to mix it.
• Reduce the heat to low.
• Then add a little amount of warm water to the chicken and put a lid on it.
• Let the chicken pieces simmer and get cooked gradually.
• The chicken pieces should turn tender in 35-40 mins.If they appear to be stiff, then continue to cook for some more time, till the point the chicken becomes soft.Once the chicken is done, remove the chicken pieces but keep a little amount of gravy(2 tb sp) aside.
• Break down the chicken pieces into thin shreds and mix them with the gravy which ensures that the chicken pieces remain juicy.

Shrimps(30 mins)
Frying the Shrimps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and toss the shrimps one by one.
• Fry on both sides for 3-4 mins.
• Remove the prawns once done and put them on a tissue to drain the excess oil clinging to the surface.

Preparing the curry:

• Under meat high heat: Heat the vegetable oil meant for preparing the prawn curry and add the ginger and garlic pastes.
• When the aroma evolves, add the diced onion slices.
• Add the onion paste and tomato paste/puree once the onion pieces have turned brown.
• When the moisture content reduces, add the shrimps and braise them for 10-12 mins.
• Then add the black pepper powder and salt to taste.
• Add 50 ml of warm water, and reduce the heat to low.
• Let the prawn pieces cook for 20-25 mins/until the water content gets reduced to a thick gravy(approx 2 tb sps).
• Sprinkle the garam masala powder and give a final stir.
• Remove the prawns and keep aside. Keep the gravy too in a container.

Cooking:

• Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a kadai/wok.
• When the oil is hot, add the whole spices. 
• After sometime the aroma of the whole spices evolve,then add the boiled vegetables - carrot, beans and pepper.
• Turn the heat to low.
• Sprinkle the powdered black pepper onto the mixture and stir for a couple of minutes.
• Then add the rice and continue stirring for 5 minutes at the end of which, add the cashew nuts and soaked raisins.
• Mix the cashew nuts,raisins with the rice and then add the chicken gravy(2 tb sp) and prawn gravy(2 tb sp).
• Continue stirring for another 3-4 minutes.
• Spread the shredded chicken pieces, shredded egg pieces and shrimps across the rice and mix well.
• Then add ghee,sugar(as per desired quantity) and salt(if required),
• Stir for another 2 mins and serve with item of choice.