Gobi Manchurian / How to make Cauliflower Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian/Cauliflower Manchurian is a popular Indo-Chinese spicy curry, where fried cauliflower is dropped into the manchurian sauce. Cauliflower is also known as gobi or gobhi.

Gobi manchurian is the most popular food in India, it is spicy, sweet, and tangy. One of the most sought after restaurant food, perfect with fried rice, noodles, roti, tandoori roti, or just plain rice. I have been making gobi manchurian for a long time as my daughter just loves it......over the years I have perfected it, and thought it is high time, I shared this with you. So that you can make restaurant style gobi manchurian right in your kitchen and surprise your family. Do I have to mention the best thing about homemade manchurian is that; no MSG, no additives, no artificial color or flavorings...just pure homemade gobi manchurian!!

Cauliflower is dipped in spicy batter and deep fried and added to Chinese style sauce.....and generously sprinkled with chopped spring onions and that gives out the authentic Chinese flavor, so try not to skip it.

Notes:

The picture of the gravy in the kadai is a bit loose....but it will thicken after sometime....the final picture which you see above was taken about 15 minutes later...and you can see that it has thickened a bit.
If you are a regular here, you will know that I am on the spicer side...you can omit the green chillies and red chilly sauce (or even reduce by half).
I like the florets to be cut into small pieces, as after it is coated and deep fried, it will look slightly large.
Manchurian has two stage cooking, one is deep frying the batter dipped cauliflowers and the second is making the spicy manchurian sauce. .
I like to use garlic for Chinese cooking, so I have not used ginger; I like to put in garlic first into the oil, so as to infuse the oil with fresh garlic flavor....if you prefer you can throw in a bit of ginger.
I use the white part of spring onion for the sauce and the green for garnish, it does give out authentic flavor, but if you cannot find them...you can use chopped onion (one medium), or shallots.
The flour batter should be on the thicker side. (If you add in a fat pinch of soda powder, the fried ones will be a lot crispier, but I did not use here).

Add salt cautiously, the sauces have salt in it. Chinese cooking is all about stir-fry on high heat, so while making the manchurian sauce remember this.

Author: Nisa Homey

Recipe Source: Amma.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower: About 250-300 gms, cut into bite sized florets.

For the sauce:

Spring onion (white part) or shallots: 3 tbsp chopped.

Green Chilli: 1 large, chopped (optional).

Garlic cloves: 1 tbsp, chopped.

Kashmiri chilly powder: 1 tsp.

Tomato sauce: 2 1/2 tbsp.

Soy sauce: 1 tsp.

Red chilli sauce: 1 tsp (optional)

Sugar: 1 tsp.

Water: 1 cup.

Corn flour: 1 tbsp.

Oil: 2-3 tbsp.

Salt: As needed.

For the batter:

All purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups.

Cornflour: 1 cup.

Kashmiri chilly powder: 1 tsp.

Soy sauce: 1 tbsp.

Water: 1/2 to 3/4 cup (to make into a thick batter)

Salt: 1 tsp.

Method:

Put everything under "for the batter" in a bowl, add water and salt.

Mix with hand, spoon, or a whisk into a smooth batter, keep this aside.

Drop in the cauliflower into the batter.

Heat a small kadai or wok with oil to deep fry. Dip each one in the batter, so that it is nicely coated and deep fry in hot oil...I did it in three batches...keep aside the fried ones.

Lets make the Manchurian Sauce, here is the spring onions (white and green), green chilli, and garlic.

Heat a wok or a large kadai with 2 1/2 tbsp of refined oil, and add the garlic...

Then add the chopped white part of the spring onion or shallots or onion and the chopped green chilli.

Now you have to be really quick, as the flame is on high....so get all the sauces ready near you...Add in 1 tsp chilly powder.

2 1/2 tbsp of tomato sauce

1 tsp soy sauce.

1 tsp chilly sauce (optional, if you can't tolerate this much heat/spice, omit it). Simmer the fire.

About 1/2 tsp salt, remember to add salt cautiously as the sauces contain salt in it.

Mix 1 tsp of cornflour in 1 cup of water and add this into the sauce....allow it to simmer on medium heat for a minute or two...keep stirring.

Add in 1 tsp sugar. Our manchurian sauce is ready!! (you can also make this sauce ahead and reheat and then add in the fried gobi.)

Add in the fried cauliflower/gobi.

Mix well, so that each fried gobi is nicely coated with the manchurian sauce. Sprinkle generously with spring onion (green part). The sauce will be a little thin or loose, but it will thicken a bit....If you want more gravy, increase the water for the sauce and cornflour a little bit.