Infused with star anise, this easy, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian dish makes the perfect side dish for any meal.
30 minutes of chopping and cooking time is all you need(maybe even less if you have the knife skills)to make this pan-fried spicy carrot side-dish.
So grab a few carrots and star anise on the way home, if you cook regularly, I'm sure you already have all the other ingredients in hand.
It's not the carrots but the aromatic star anise which adds its distinct flavor to the carrots.
The star anise turns this regular Sri Lankan carrot stir-fry into something much more.
the carrots and a frying pan or skillet.
Can I use baby carrots to make this stir-fry with star anise?
Just make sure to add more water(where the recipe instructions say to add water)and cook slightly longer so the baby carrots will turn soft yet maintain a crunch.
What does a Julienne cut mean?
For those of you who are not familiar with the following term, it's just a fancy term the culinary world uses to cut whatever vegetables like carrots or potatoes into matchstick strips.
1/ Wash and rinse carrot to remove any dirt.
2/ Peel the skin off the carrots.
3/ then cut off the top and bottom of the carrots.
4/ Place the carrot on the chopping board and cut the carrot in half(lengthwise).
5/ Further cut the halves lengthwise, you will now have four long slices of carrot.
6/ Now carefully cut these four pieces into thin strips, you need to be careful here because your fingers will be placed very close to the sharp knife.
7/ When done properly your carrot strips should look like long matchsticks which you can shorten by cutting into half which I have done here.
Julienne the carrots and set aside(see notes above how-to).
Place a skillet or frying pan over medium heat and pour in the oil.
Add in the garlic, onion, turmeric and sauté the ingredients until the onion turns translucent. 3 minutes.
Add the Julienne carrots, combine with ingredients in the pan for 5 minutes until the carrots are slightly soft.
Once the carrots are sautéed for 5 minutes, pour in the water and add the star anise, chilli flecks. let the carrots cook further over medium heat while being infused with the star anise flavor. Season with salt.
Cook, until there is barely any water and turns into a dry stir-fry without any liquid.
Season with salt if necessary and serve warm.
Vegan/ vegetarian recipes you might like.
Sri Lankan spicy potato-bean stir-fry.
Oyster mushroom and bean stir-fry.
Easy kangkung stir-fry with toasted garlic.
Quick Sri Lankan spicy carrot stir-fry.
Season with salt if necessary and serve warm.