Gobhi Manchurian is a classic and quintessential Indo-Chinese dish. Crispy deep fried cauliflower in tangy, spicy gravy is absolutely scrumptious.
For the second day of this week’s ‘Deep fried dishes’ theme, I made our family favorite Gobhi Manchurian. Crispy deep fried cauliflower florets with tangy, spicy thick gravy makes for an addictive dish. It is usually served as an appetizer or as a side dish for fried rice or noodles.
It is a little time consuming dish but well worth every minute of it. If there’s any cuisine we are like in our family, then it has to be Indo-Chinese. My husband has always been a big fan of it and recently even my 11 year old jumped on the band wagon.
He can eat manchurian all day every day 🙂 He started eating and tolerating spicy food after eating the spicy manchurian in India. My son keeps asking for it and I finally made it this weekend. Let me tell you he was a very happy camper. I had to save some for his dinner too. This was our simple Indo-Chinese lunch with tofu fried rice and dessert wontons (recipe coming up tomorrow).
The time consuming part of this recipe is the deep frying the cauliflower. I used this recipe from Tarla Dalal’s site. Only change I made was to par cook the cauliflower before deep frying. The golden brown crispy fried cauliflower are inviting and delicious on their own. I lost a few of them to the kids who couldn’t wait for the whole dish to be completed.
The gravy part doesn’t take too long to make. Also it is important that that fried florets are tossed in the sauce as quickly as possible, so they stay crispy and don’t get soggy. Depending on how you are serving the dish, there can be a lot or little gravy.
Dry gobhi manchurian is perfect as an appetizer whereas manchurian with gravy is great as a side dish for Indo Chinese dishes. If you don’t want to deep fry, then use the appe/ aebliskiver pan to fry – like in this low-cal version. All in all, this is a great dish to have in the repertoire to please family and friends.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 95.
Gobhi Manchurian
Ingredients
For the Fritters:
- 2 cups Cauliflower florets (from about 1 small head)
- 2 tsp Ginger+garlic paste
- ½ cup All purpose flour
- ¼ cup Corn flour
- 1 tsp Soy sauce
- To taste Salt & pepper
- As needed Oil, for deep frying
For the Manchuria Gravy:
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1" Ginger piece, finely grated
- 3 Garlic cloves, finely grated
- 4~5 Green onions, finely chopped
- 1 Small Green Pepper, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tsp Chili sauce
- 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
- To taste Salt & Pepper
- 2 tsp Corn flour whisked in ¼ cup of water Add more water to make the gravy
Instructions
Make the Fritters:
- Steam or microwave cauliflower florets until fork tender. Make sure not to overcook them, they have to be cooked but not mushy. Drain and add the ginger+garlic paste. Mix to combine. Set aside to marinate for about 20~30 minutes.
- Combine all purpose flour, corn flour, salt, pepper and soy sauce, Add about ¾cup of water to make a thick, yet pourable batter.
- Heat oil for deep frying. Dip the florets in the batter and gently add to the hot oil. Fry on medium-high flame until they are lightly golden on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper lined plate and repeat with the remaining fritters.
Make Gobhi Manchurian:
- Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Next add the green onions and green pepper - cook for 2~3 minutes or until the veggies are crisp tender.
- Add soy sauce, chili sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the corn flour mixture and cook until the mixture thickens. Add the fried cauliflower florets and toss to coat them evenly with the sauce. Add more water to make a more saucy gravy. Serve as is or as a side for Indo-Chinese main dishes.
Usha
This is a classic Indo Chinese side dish/appetizer. I can not get the gravy part right for most of the Chinese dishes and I think I figured out the right proportions a week ago when I tried chicken manchurian. Your version looks good and that is a delicious spread of Indo Chinese.
Priya suresh
Somehow i love dry gobi manchurian than the semi gravy one. Lipsmacking here. Fried rice witv manchurain – delicious combo.
Gayathri Kumar
Who can say no to that plate of crispy cauliflower manchurian! The whole spread looks absolutely delicious. Now I am curious about that dessert wontons.
harini
Fantastic pick, Pavani. don’t even get started on Indo-chinese cuisine. My kids will eat it everyday if it were allowed 🙂
Swati
Gobhi Manchurian one of the favourite Indo Chinese snack for all age groups!! Yours’ looks so delicious, and not to miss the eye-catching fried rice and fried wontons .
Suma Gandlur
A classic dish to choose from Indo – chinese fusion food. Very well presented.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
Gobi Manchurian is my weakness. I am drooling here. I wish I could grab from the screen.
Veena Krishnakumar
I am drooling here. Vibha must be missing all this in germany. She loves this
Srivalli
I so agree Pavani, gobhi manchurian is a sinful dish and your whole spread looks so inviting!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
All time favorite and my boys eat this by bowlful! Looks so delicious and now I am craving for some.
Code2cook
I love gobi Manchurian a lot. the only thing is fried gobhi adsorbs a lot of oil. you platter looking so tempting and inviting Pavani. drooling over n over again.