Gobi Manchurian

Recipe for Gobi Manchurian

I still remember the craze this dish created that caught  us all with its burst of flavors. Still could cherish those memories when  I and my friends went  for eat outs  during college days, We used to  order this with Hakka noodles, not worrying about the ambiance of the place, which was just close to our college.

From a street side vendor to the fine dining restaurant - Gobi Manchurian was available  everywhere.

Remembering all these fond memories and more,  today I tried making this famous Gobi Manchurian at home, hoping my boys (my sons 7 & 3, husband ) will like it. I was given 10/10 review.😃

Do you know  from where Gobi Manchurian originated ?

It was originally developed by the Chinese community who have lived in Kolkata.

Chinese food in India is nothing like the regional cuisines of China. Indians have made it their own by creating lip-smacking dishes packed with spicy flavors. In fact we love Chinese inspired meals so much that we even have Chinese khakra, Chinese dosa, Chinese tikki, Chinese samosa, Chinese pizza – the list is endless. Everyone loves Indo-Chinese food in India.

Gobi Manchurian is an Indo Chinese fried cauliflower dish. Gobi Manchurian is the result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian taste. It  is  one of the famous party starters or an appetizer for  the vegetarians.

How to make Gobi Manchurian?

To make Gobi Manchurian, cauliflower is first coated in batter & then deep fried until crisp. You can use the double frying technique which is used in restaurants which ensures the florets turn out really crispy. Then these are tossed in sweet, sour and hot manchurian sauce.

Which ingredients are required to make Gobi Manchurian?

Cauliflower florets - washed and thoroughly dried up. It should be  cut into small to medium size.

Flour for making the batter - all-purpose flour or rice flour (gluten-free option), and corn flour.

Seasoning - salt and  pepper, red chili powder for color. You can also use food color but that’s not good for health.

For the Manchurian sauce:

Veggies - green capsicum ( bell pepper)  and red onions cut in cubes.

Aromatics - spring onion, minced ginger, and garlic,

Sauces - soy sauce , red chili sauce, vinegar, and tomato ketchup

Corn flour - for the slurry to thicken up the sauces.

What are the types of Manchurian can be made?

There are two different variants of Gobi Manchurian,  is dry and  the other is with gravy. Both variants are prepared by using common ingredients like cauliflower, corn flour, maida or all purpose flour, spring onion, bell peppers, soy sauce, chili sauce, minced garlic, black pepper powder etc and has typical garnish of spring onion. Though a manchurian recipe can be made using chicken, mixed vegetable, soya chunks also. Once the manchurian is prepared, it has to be served immediately as it may turn soggy if kept for a while.

What to serve with Manchurian?

Serve it as a starter or appetizer or as an accompaniment with Chinese fried rice or  you can enjoy it with noodles and veg fried rice .

Can we use rice flour instead of corn flour in Manchurian? 

You can also try rice flour which  can also act as a thickener in recipes, making it an effective substitute for cornstarch.

How to make Gobi Manchurian

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh Cauliflower florets ( small size florets )
• salt as per taste
• 2 tbsp All purpose flour
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder for  red color
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup  cubed onions
• 1 tsp garlic finely chopped 
• 1 tsp ginger finely chopped 
• 1/2 cup cubed bell pepper
• For slurry  to thicken up the sauces
• 1 tsp corn flour
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

1) Boil  water in a pan, once the water comes to boil, add the cauliflower florets  for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat.

2) Next Take them out and put them on a kitchen towel to dry it completely.

3) Meanwhile, In a bowl add the all purpose flour and corn flour, pepper  and salt as per taste and Kashmiri red chili powder.

4) Mix this all together and add water  little by little and whisk it nicely to form a lump free paste.It should'nt be too runny.The gobi should just get coated easily. 

5) Heat oil for frying .Once the oil is hot, dip the dried gobis in the batter, and then deep fry them  on medium flame until crispy and light brown in color.

6) Keep the fried gobi aside 

7) Now For Making the manchurian : In a wide pan, heat oil, to this add chopped garlic  and ginger. stir it for few seconds don't let it brown.

                              

8) Next add finely chopped onions along with some spring onions greens. Saute this for 2 minutes.

9)  Then add  cubed peppers and onions saute for another  another couple of  minutes.

10) Meanwhile make slurry by combining water and corn flour  mix them to make a lump free  mixture . It thickens up the sauces you will add in manchurian.

11) Now add in the  soy sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, chili sauce ,mix all this nicely.

12) Add  corn flour slurry water, cook  mixture for 2 minutes. 

13) Keep stirring till the sauces thicken up nicely of required consistency. You can add water little bit if  you want.

14) Now add in the fried Gobis, mix it nice so that the sauces get well  coated with the gobis, and  finally garnish it  with chopped green onions.