How to make Veg Manchurian

This Indo-Chinese gravy dish is just too delicious and goes well with fried rice or hakka noodles

Recipe

Chinese food is an integral part of the Indian culinary scene. In Indian Chinese cuisine the food is modified to suit Indian palate. In this Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques are adapted to Indian tastes and contain larger offering of vegetarian dishes. Today, it is not only enjoyed by the Indians but is also highly appreciated in in Malaysia, Singapore and North America.  
Foods tend to be flavoured with Indian spices such as cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and turmeric, which are traditionally not associated with authentic Chinese cuisine. Hot chilli, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, dry red chillies, black pepper corns and yogurt are also frequently used in Indo Chinese dishes. This makes Indian Chinese food similar in taste to many dishes of Singapore and Malaysia, which have strong Chinese and Indian cultural influences.
Non-staple dishes are generally served with generous helpings of gravy, although they are also available without gravy. Culinary styles often seen in Indian Chinese fare include chilli where the food is hot and batter-fried; Manchurian which consists of a sweet and salty brown sauce; and Szechwan sauce which is a spicy red sauce. These are generally not used in authentic Chinese food preparation.

Prep Time : 11-15 minutes

Cook time : 21-25 minutes

Serve : 4

Level Of Cooking : Moderate

Taste : Spicy

Ingredients for Veg Manchurian – SKKhazana Recipe

• Small cabbage grated 1
• Medium carrot peeled and grated 1
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour 1/4 cup + for coating
• Refined flour (maida) 1/2 tablespoon
• Oil 2 tablespo to deep fry
• Spring onions with greens 2
• Garlic cloves finely chopped 4-5
• Ginger finely chopped 1 inch
• Celery finely chopped 2 inches
• Green chillies finely chopped 1-2
• Vegetable stock 1 3/4 cups
• Soy sauce 2 teaspoons
• Red chilli sauce 1 tablespoon
• Black pepper powder to taste
• Vinegar a few drop

Method

Step 1

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.

Step 2

Place a muslin cloth over a bowl. Put cabbage, carrot and salt on the cloth and set aside for 5 minutes so that they leave water. Gather the edges of the cloth and squeeze out excess water and transfer into another bowl. Reserve the water.

Step 3

Add cornflour and refined flour to the vegetables and mix well. Divide the mixture into equal portions, shape into balls and coat with cornflour.

Step 4

Gently slide in the balls into hot oil and deep-fry till golden brown and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper.

Step 5

To make the sauce, heat 2 tbsps oil in a non-stick pan.

Step 6

Roughly chop spring onion bulbs and reserve the greens.

Step 7

Add the bulbs to the pan along with garlic, ginger, celery and green chillies to the pan. Add 1½ cups vegetable stock, reserved cabbage-carrot water, soy sauce, chilli sauce, salt and black pepper powder, mix well and bring to a boil.

Step 8

Mix together 2 tbsps cornflour and ¼ cup vegetable stock in a bowl to make slurry. Add 2 tbsps slurry to the boiling sauce, mix well and cook for a minute or till the sauce thickens.

Step 9

Switch off heat, add fried balls, vinegar, mix well and set aside for 5 minutes.

Step 10

Diagonally slice the spring onion greens. Transfer the veg Manchurian into a serving bowl, garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice or hakka noodles.