Gobi Manchurian
This one is a crowd pleaser and one of my personal favourites. Gobi manchurian is a result of adapting Chinese cooking techniques to suit the Indian palate. ‘Gobi’ is cauliflower in Hindi and manchuria is a region in NorthEast China from where this recipe came. It’s said that this mouth watering goodness originated in a Chinese kitchen in Kolkata, and was called chicken Manchurian then. Soon the vegetarian version (as many Indians are lacto-vegetarians) spread over to all other parts of the country and one version became particularly became famous as gobi manchurian. These days restaurants in India serve different types of manchurian - chicken, fish, cauliflower, baby corn, soya chunks, mushrooms. Eat it as an appetiser or as a side dish with noodles or fried rice. However you eat, for sure will you enjoy it.
What you'll need :
7-8 pods of garlic chopped finely
1 green bell pepper cut into 1 cm cubes
3 cups of medium sized cauliflower florets (blanched in warm water for 5 minutes with a pinch of turmeric, drained and dried on a clean cloth )
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves
Spring onions - 4, slice green and white portions separately
5 button mushrooms sliced thinly (optional)
2 green chillies split into halves
1/2 cup each of rice and chickpea flour
1/2 tsp chilli powder (or as per taste)
1 cup water
Vegetable oil to deep fry
For the manchurian mix
1 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp corn flour
4 tbsp water
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp hot chilli sauce
A pinch of brown sugar
1 tsp garam masala
How to :
Mix all the ingredients for manchurian mix in a small bowl and keep it aside.
Mix rice flour, chickpea flour, chilli powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and mix well to remove any lumps. This will make a dipping batter and the consistency should be just enough to coat the florets. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Dip the cauliflower florets in batter and deep fry until golden brown. Lay them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Heat a tbsp of oil in a wide pan or wok. Add chopped garlic, split chillies, white portion of spring onions and stir fry for a minute. Add mushrooms, bell pepper and stir fry for another minute. The peppers should be crisp and not mushy. Add the manchurian mix and keep stirring for 30 seconds. The liquid turns to a sauce, if the mixture is very thick add 2-3 tsp water just enough to coat the florets. Adjust the taste of the mixture. You can make it sweeter or spicer by adding the different sauces used in manchurian mix. Turn off the heat, add fried cauliflower florets and mix well. Garnish with green spring onions and cilantro.