Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Gobi Manchurian | Cauliflower manchurian : With step by step pictures!



Because of the terrible weather & wind chills, we are under house arrest. Hubby was working from home & my son is enjoying his extended holiday. Hope the weather gets better soon. To keep myself going & motivated, I am having a cooking marathon. Despite our diet, I cooked many unhealthy dishes. Good thing is that I made most of them during lunch & our dinner's are very simple even now.

Back to the recipe. Gobi Manchurian is a Indo-Chinese dish & a street food of India. Gobi manchurian can be served as a appetizer(dry version) or made like a gravy to go with Fried rice or other rice varieties. This post is a dry version & is served as a appetizer.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
For the manchurian:
Gobi | Cauliflower : 1 small cauliflower (about 25-30 florets)
Corn starch: 1/4 cup
AP flour/Maida: 1/2 cup
Pepper powder: 1 tsp
Water: As needed (I used 1 cup + 2 tbsp)
Salt: As needed
Oil: For deep frying

For the manchurian sauce:
Corn starch: 1 tbsp
Water: 1/2 cup
Tomato ketchup: 2 tbsp
Red chilli sauce or sriracha: 2 tsp
Soya sauce: 2 tbsp
Vinegar: 1 tsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Garlic: 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Finely chopped cabbage: 1/4 cup
Finely chopped onion: 1/4 cup
Bell peppers: 1/4 cup
Finely chopped green chillies: 1 tsp, more or less (I used 1/2 tsp of green chilli paste)
Salt: As needed (Be extra careful as all the sauces contain salt & in fact I do not add any extra salt)

For the garnish:
Spring onion greens: 2 tbsp, finely chopped


Method:
Wash the cauliflower florets & keep it aside.

Mix the corn starch, maida, pepper powder, salt in a medium bowl.

Add few tablespoons of water at a time & make a smooth batter. Whisk the batter well & ensure no lumps. Batter should be little thinner than the pakora batter or pancake batter. We want the batter to coat the cauliflower florets lightly.

Heat oil in a broad pan or kadai or deep fryer. When oil is hot, dip the cauliflower florets in the batter & deep fry the florets until lightly golden. Each batch takes about 3-5 mins.
Drain the deep fried cauliflower florets & place them on a paper towel.

For the Manchurian sauce:
Add the corn starch, water, tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce, soya sauce, vinegar to a small bowl & whisk well. Let the sauce mixture sit for 3-5 mins.
Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, add the finely chopped garlic & toss till garlic is golden brown. Follow garlic by onions & cabbage. Toss on high heat until the cabbage & onions are translucent, cooked & yet crunchy. It might take about 3-4 mins

Add the bell peppers, finely chopped green chillies & toss again.

Add the sauce mixture to the wok. Keep mixing until the sauce becomes thick.

Throw in the deep fried cauliflower florets & toss. Let the sauce coat the cauliflower florets.
Turn off the heat.

Garnish it with onion greens (I did not have them handy, so skipped adding!) & serve it immediately.

Notes:

  • You should mix the sauce & the florets just before serving. The manchurian does not stay crisp if you soak it for a long time.
  • If you plan to make it for a party, prepare the sauce & deep fry the florets in advance. Heat the sauce & toss in the florets just before serving.
  • Other manchurian ideas. Instead of cauliflower, you could use mushroom, cabbage, baby corn or paneer (Indian cottage cheese).

4 comments:

  1. Is corn starch and corn floor are the same?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous: There are two kinds of corn flours available at Indian Stores. One is the yellow colored corn flour which is also known as makki ka atta. The other one is white colored corn flour also known as corn starch. White corn flour or corn starch is used as a thickening agent in soups & gravies. Use the white colored corn flour or corn starch for the above recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Delicious and lovely looking Gobi Manchurian.
    Deepa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yay....My favorite street food now my little Sunny boy too is a big fan of Gobi M...

    ReplyDelete

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