GOBI MANCHURIAN / CAULIFLOWER MANCHURIAN
For me, this dish is another way to eat my favourite vegetable. Cauliflower is available for the whole year now and I find some way or the other to cook this healthy veggie. This time I had decided to add the most popular and much loved Indo-Chinese flavours to the dish. And, the outcome was the scrumptious GOBI MANCHURIAN.
WHAT IS MANCHURIAN?
Manchurian is a dish with fried dumplings with more vegetables or meat and less flour or cornflour. This is prepared dry or with the gravy. Dry Manchurian dishes are enjoyed as a starter whereas the Manchurian with gravy can be eaten with rice or noodles. Manchurian dishes are a part of our favourite Indo-Chinese cuisine. This is a fusion cuisine which is the combination of Chinese seasoning and the cooking techniques which suits the Indian tastes. That is why we popularly call it DESI CHINESE
This fusion cuisine is the favourite of all age groups since long. I too love the sauces which are added while making it. For this particular dish, the blanched cauliflower is thinly coated with cornflour batter to deep-fried and finally cooked with the Indo Chinese seasoning and sauces.
Prep time – 10 minutes
Cook time – 20 minutes
Course – Main
Cuisine – Indo-Chinese
Author – Bharti Dhawan
MAIN INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
• Gobi/Cauliflower – 1 big /500 gms (washed and chopped into medium-sized florets)
• Water to blanch the cauliflower florets – As required
• Finely chopped garlic – 1 tbsp
• Finely chopped ginger – 2 tsp
• Finely chopped green chillies – 1 tsp or to taste
• Roughly chopped onions – 1 big
• Cooking oil – Sufficient enough for deep frying
• Cornflour – 2 tbsp
• Red chilly powder(degi mirch) – 2 tsp
• Salt and black pepper powder – To taste
• Water to make a thick batter – 1/2 cup
• Coriander leaves and sesame seeds/ til for garnish
INGREDIENTS FOR THE MANCHURIAN SAUCE
• Water – 1 cup or some more if required
• Green chilly sauce – 2 tsp
• Red chilly sauce – 2 tsp
• Tomato ketchup – 3 tsp
• Light soya sauce – 2 tsp
• White vinegar – 1 tsp
• Cornflour – 1 tbsp
DIRECTIONS
1- Firstly keep a saucepan with water for boiling. Add 1 tsp salt. The water should be enough so that the gobi florets dunk into it
When it starts boiling add gobi florets. Boil them for 5 minutes. Immediately drain the water and pour some cold water to prevent the overcooking
*If this is the seasonal cauliflower, then just blanch them for 2 minutes. As this is the off-season and gobi becomes a little hard, so I boiled for 5 minutes
2- Next, make a batter of cornflour, water, salt and red chilly powder. Add the gobi florets to the batter and coat well with hands. Make sure the batter goes into the cavities
3- Keep a kadahi with oil to heat at high flame. Drop the batter coated gobi florets into the hot oil one by one. Avoid overcrowding
4- When the gobi is half done, take them out on an absorbent paper. Allow them to cool a little. Now deep fry them once again in the hot oil until golden in colour. Refrying makes them crispier
DIRECTIONS FOR THE SAUCE
5- Take a bowl and add all the ingredients mentioned under INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE.
6- Keep a kadahi or wok on the flame. Add oil and heat it. Add chopped ginger, green chillies and garlic. Saute it for a while. Now add chopped onions and saute
7- Add the prepared sauce and give a boil. Now add 1 cup of water and give 1 more boil. Add fried gobi and mix well. Add a little more water if the mix feels dry. Cover for just 2 minutes
8- Finish the dish with coriander leaves and sesame seeds. Serve the scrumptious GOBI MANCHURIAN with HAKKA NOODLES or FRIED RICE
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