Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian is one of those Indo-Chinese dishes that perfectly satisfy all the checks in the criteria of ultimate comfort food. The fried cauliflower florets coated in a delicious Manchurian sauce is truly a vegetarian delight. Continuing with my restaurant-style dishes that you can replicate at home, here is this gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian recipe.
To make gobi manchurian the cauliflower is robbed of its monotony and clothed with a thick batter, later graced with stir-fry sauce to assemble a plate of luscious, sinful snack.
For a country where a vegetarian diet is an equally essential part of the food culture, vegetarian versions of the meat dish are inevitable. Hence, we always got dishes like vegetable manchurian and cauliflower manchurian in the community dinner table.
In India, we classify gobi Manchurian as part of our Indo-Chinese cuisine (Also read:10 Best Indo-Chinese Party Recipes).
The vast number of Chinese migrants in Kolkatta were the folk who created the fusion cuisine now popularly known as Indo-Chinese. And now, over the years, dishes like gobi (cauliflower) manchurian are the very heart of Indian street food fare.
Light on the wallet and high on flavor, Indo-Chinese cuisine holds a special place in all our food adventures. Gobi Manchurian is an excellent option to create tasty, quick bites for parties or teatime snacks. It can be made both dry and eaten by itself or with a semi-thick spiced gravy that tastes great with chili garlic noodles or with quick fried rice.
But unfortunately, at most of the local restaurants in India, the dish is quite abused by the cooks. In general, gobi manchurian is poorly treated, more often it is cooked in such an unthinking and ignorant manner as to make one feel that it should never be tasted again.
From scary red to deep orange in color, soggy oil-soaked florets to garam masala spiced stir fry, I have eaten all sorts of substandard styles of cauliflower manchurian served with pride under the Indian-Chinese menu at most of the restaurants.
So we’re taking matters in our own hands (and kitchens) and showing you how to recreate a delicious Gobi Manchurian at home.
Tips To Make Best Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian:
Non- Greasy: Even though this is a fried snack you don’t want it reeking of oil. Imagine biting into a nice fritter and getting a mouthful of oil? Yes, never a good thing. Make sure your oil is at high temperature before frying the florets to prevent this seepage of oil.
Not Too Doughy: Yes, flour is used as a binder in this recipe. It also helps give the fritters the lovely crunchy coating we love. But adding too much flour or cornstarch in the batter makes your manchurian hard, and then you just have fried dough balls instead.
Avoid Over-Cooking: The gobi manchurian gravy does not require long cooking hours. Once the sauce is thick and luscious, turn off the heat. Do not cook it for too long after adding fried cauliflower florets and capsicum.
If you’re attempting to make gobi manchurian the first time, don’t worry. This is an easy recipe that I have for you today. The results are always delicious, and you just can’t go wrong.
Step-By-Step Gobi Manchurian Video:
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Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian
Ingredients
Ingredients For Frying:
- 500 gram cauliflower florets
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
- 2 tablespoon cornflour (corn starch)
- 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1/3 Cup water
- Oil for shallow frying
Other Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon chopped red chilli
- 1/2 Cup chopped onion
- 1/2 Cup diced capsicum
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon red chilli sauce
- 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/4 Cup corn flour paste (2 tablespoon cornflour combined with water)
Instructions
- To prepare the florets for gobi manchurian, wash cauliflower in water and pat dry with kitchen towel. Cut cauliflower into bite size florets.
- For the frying batter mix all-purpose flour, corn flour, salt, black pepper, and ginger-garlic paste. Use water to make a thick paste. The batter has to be of dropping consistency but not too runny.
- Add the florets in the batter, mix nicely and let them sit in the fridge for half-an-hour.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan to shallow fry the cauliflower florets. Take out florets from the fridge and in small batches shallow fry until crisp from outside.
- Transfer fried florets into a plate lined with kitchen towel. Once all the florets are fried keep aside while the manchurian sauce is getting ready.
- From the same pan transfer excess oil to a bowl and leave only 1 – 2 tablespoon in the pan. Heat pan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic, ginger, red chilli and onion. Fry for a minute to release the aroma of ingredients.
- Now add chopped capsicum and stir-fry for 2 – 3 minutes over high heat.
- Add soy sauce, tomato sauce, red chili sauce, black pepper, and salt. Stir and add 1/4 cup of water followed by cornflour paste. Let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes or till it becomes little thick.
- At last, add the fried cauliflower florets and stir to evenly coat florets with sauce. Cook for 1 – 2 minute.
- Garnish Gobi Manchurian with the spring onion greens.
- Serve Gobi Manchurian warm with fried rice and noodles.
4 comments
Yummy one. Mushrooms are my favorite. I have never tried this recipe. Will surely do and share the feedback with u. Keep posting with lots more. Thank u for the wonderful share.
Nice Article. Nice Recipe.
Thanks for sharing.
Keep Sharing.
Thanks to you for such kind and encouraging words.