Gobi Manchurian is a popular and tasty Indo-Chinese street food recipe that is prepared with Cauliflower & Chinese Sauces. It is one of the famous party starters or an appetizer, especially for vegetarians.
The Gobi means cauliflower in India, so for this dish cauliflower florets are first fried by tossing them in a flour-cornstarch batter which makes them crispy. And then they are tossed in a sauce which is made with soy sauce, vinegar and is slightly sweet and tangy. Gobi Manchurian is the blissful marriage of fried cauliflower florets and the flavorful Manchurian sauce.
What is Gobi Manchurian
Gobi Manchurian is an Indian Chinese fried cauliflower dish. Gobi Manchurian is the result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian tastes and has become a staple of Indian Chinese cuisine.
In its two-stage preparation, the first stage requires preparing a spiced corn flour batter, dipping cauliflower florets in it, and deep-frying them. In the second stage, the deep-fried florets are sautéed with chopped onion, bell pepper, ginger, garlic, etc., in soy and chili sauce.
There are two different variants of Gobi Manchurian, dry and with gravy. Both variants are prepared by using common ingredients like cauliflower, cornflour, maida flour, spring onion, bell peppers, soy sauce, chili sauce, minced garlic, ground pepper, etc. and has a typical garnish of spring onion.
Gobi Manchurian dry
It has cauliflower fritters in comparatively dry sauce-like texture and is typically served and enjoyed as a snack or starter with tomato ketchup or schezwan sauce as a dipping sauce. It is popular among alcohol drinkers as a bar snack and can be found in almost all bar restaurants.
Gobi Manchurian gravy
It has cauliflower fritters in a thick sauce like spicy gravy curry made of sauces, vinegar cornflour. It is generally served with varieties of rice dishes like steamed rice, Chinese fried rice, schezwan fried rice, in the main course. You can also add diced onion and capsicum along with the sauces to make it more flavourful and colorful.
This recipe is for Gobi Manchurian Gravy and can be served as an appetizer or as a side, served with Hakka Noodles or Fried Rice.
Some of the most popular Indo-Chinese dishes are Hakka Noodles, Chili Paneer, Baby Corn Manchurian, Mushroom Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, Garlic Fried Rice, and this Gobi Manchurian.
Do try other similar recipes:
- Baby Corn Manchurian
- Mushroom Fried Rice
- Egg Fried Rice
- Garlic Fried Rice
- Air Fried Stuffed Mushrooms
- Garlic Fried Rice
- Egg Shakshuka
- Egg Dum Biryani
- Egg Curry
- Star Garlic Bread
- Air Fried Stuffed Mushrooms
- Paneer Dum Tikka
- Veg Lasagna Poppers
- Paneer Tikka Pizza Sliders
Preparation Time: 15mins ∏ Cooking Time: 25mins ∏ Servings: 2-3 person
Level: Intermediate(Medium) ∏ Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm
Ingredients Checklist:
For Frying Gobhi
For Manchurian Sauce
How to make Gobi Manchurian:
Make fried Cauliflower
Step1: Add cauliflower florets in a large bowl. Lightly dust cauliflower florets with 2 tablespoon corn starch. Mix well.
Step2: In another bowl add 1/4 cup refined flour, 1/4 cup corn-starch, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder,1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, and salt to taste. Mix well.
Step3: Whisk and start adding water, little by little. Make sure there is no lump.
Step4: Form a smooth, free-flowing batter. It should not be too thick or thin.
Step5: Meanwhile heat oil for frying in a Kadai. Keep the oil temperature to medium-hot. Add corn starch coated cauliflower florets in the prepared batter. Make sure they are well coated with the batter.
Step6: Drain off the excess batter and carefully drop florets into the medium hot oil.
Step7: Add around 6-7 florets or depending upon the size of the Kadai. Do not overcrowd them otherwise they will stick together.
Step8: Fry on medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until crispy and golden browned.
Step9: Remove on an absorbent paper and keep aside for further use. Continue to fry this way in batches.
Make Sauce
Step10: In a small bowl take 2 tablespoons cornflour (corn starch) and add 3-4 tablespoon water and mix very well to form a slurry. Keep aside.
Step11: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic, ginger, green chilly, and cook them for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Step12: Now add onion and capsicum (bell pepper) and stir fry on high heat until the onion and bell peppers have turned lightly tender.
Step13: Reduce the flame and add spring onion white, 1 tablespoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon chili sauce, 2 tablespoon tomato ketchup, 1 tablespoon Schezwan chutney, 1 teaspoon white vinegar (or as desired). Season it with some black pepper and salt as per taste. (Add salt keeping in mind that the soya sauce will also have salt in it). Mix it well.
Step14: Add 1.5 cups of water. For a thick gravy or sauce, you can add less water. Let it boil for 1 minute.
Step15: Add the 1/4 cup cornflour+water mixture (slurry) into the veggies. Mix very well and simmer it for 2-3 minutes on a medium to high flame. Check the taste and add more salt, pepper, sugar, or any of the sauces if required.
Step16: Turn off the flame. Add spring onion greens and some fresh coriander leaves.
Step17: Sauce for Gobhi Manchurian is ready. I will recommend not adding fried gobhi florets directly to the hot sauce otherwise, they will become soft. Instead, add them right before serving on the serving plate.
Step18: For serving, keep 3-4 florets in a plate/bowl, then pour hot/warm sauce on top of it. This way the florets will remain crunchy. Serve Gobi Manchurian as a side dish or as a meal with veg fried rice or mushroom fried rice or veg Hakka noodles or enjoy as it is.
Tips:
- You can reduce or increase the seasonings and sauces as per your taste preferences.
- Instead of deep-frying, you may shallow fry or Air fry cauliflower florets. Even you may bake them in the oven.
- Consistency of the sauce is a matter of preference. Adjust the amount of water as per requirement.
- Make sure the cauliflower/gobhi florets are coated very well with the batter before frying.
- Fry cauliflower florets in medium hot oil.
[…] Gobi Manchurian – Gobi Manchurian is a popular and tasty Indo-Chinese street food recipe that is prepared with Cauliflower & Chinese Sauces… […]
[…] whole family loves Chinese recipe like Gobi Manchurian, Mushroom Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, Garlic Fried Rice and I love how quickly it comes together, […]