Best Occasion to Prepare this Recipe
What is your favorite cold day food? Soup? Mirchi Bajji and Chaai? Cord Cobb/Corn Fritters? Pakora? Bonda? French Fries? Samosa? Somehow we all think fried when it’s cold, no? Apparently, they get along well. I think Manchurian when it’s freezing cold outside. I stock my fridge with Manchurian essentials a week before I know it’s gonna touch 5 degrees outside. #ManaicPreparationForIndoChineseGoodness, lol!
Manchurian is another fortunate result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian tastes. It is believed to have been originally developed by a small Chinese community which lived in Kolkata for a century.
The Magic number of Manchurian is “two”. Two here stands for the two-stage preparation process and the two variants of Manchurian preparation (dry and gravy). In the two-stage preparation process, 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, capsicum, garlic, etc. in soy and chili sauce. And as for the dry and gravy variants, they are both prepared by using common ingredients like cauliflower/other veggies for veg manchurian, corn flour, maida flour, spring onion, capsicum, soy sauce, chili sauce, minced garlic, ground pepper, etc. and has typical garnish of spring onion. Some recipes call for use of Monosodium gluatamate(MSG) to increase the taste profile – I skip adding this for health reasons. Load up on these in-case you don’t have them at home!
Similar to many popular Indian Food varieties, Manchurian recipe has innumerable variants. Some popular names from the Restaurant menus being- Gobi Manchurian, Veg Manchurian, Baby Corn Manchurian, Paneer Manchurian, Cabbage Manchurian, Soya Manchurian, etc to name a few. As I’m typing, a new variation is being invented.. Given the constraint of space and time, I’m going to feed you with the foodie favorites in this blog post.
PS: This recipe is served best on the side of Fried Rice, Noodles, or even makes for a stand alone starter!
My Top Recipe Recommendations
- Veg Manchurian Dry Recipe– I like this recipe for Manchuria Balls preparation but I’ll go with this recipe for the Sauce preparation
- Gobi Manchurian Dry– Perfect consistency of batter suggested by her when frying the florets. Good instructions and authentic final taste
- Baby Corn Manchurian – I’ve seen some recipes skip the baby corn deep fry. Once this is done right, the recipe is set. Add food color for the bright red color of manchurian
- Paneer Manchurian / Chili Paneer Recipe – Paneer can be cut in smaller blocks. Pepper and garlic are the two things I love to be added in this
- Cabbage Manchurian Recipe – My favorite innovative crispy street food! Grate the cabbage leaves finely so that it easily mixes with maida and corn flour mixture which prevents oil from seeping in while deep frying. Also, you can make this dish more delicious by adding other veggies like, capsicum, beans, spring onions, peas and onions!
- Aaloo Manchurian / Chili Potatoes -Crispy and spicy long potato wedges dipped in Manchurian sauce will call for a great appetizer. You can also make these using baby potatoes!
- Soya Manchurian Dry Recipe – You Soy chunk junkies! Get your proteins for the day!!
- Manchurian Gravy Sauce Recipe – Always struggled getting the sauce consistency right? Here’s the savior. Goes great with all Manchurian Varieties
My Improvs & Notes
- Most commonly Veg Manchurian dumplings are made of cabbage, carrots & spring onions. You can add other other vegetables like beans, onions, capsicum (bell pepper), cauliflower etc. as per your choice
- When preparing Gobi Manchurian, always wash and boil the Gobi florets in water before deep frying it with batter. This will ensure to remove impurities and insects from between the gaps
- Making Veg Manchurian Balls maybe time consuming. Use a food processor or chopper to ease your process. These can also be made the previous day and stored overnight
- It is best to squeeze out all the water from the vegetables after chopping them, otherwise too much water will make it difficult to make Manchurian balls
- More importantly, do not let the vegetables sit for too long after mixing the ingredients, you don’t want the vegetables to leave water. It is best to keep making the balls and frying them simultaneously.
- Make sure that the oil is sufficiently hot before adding the the balls otherwise they will start to break
- The whole process of cooking the Manchurian Balls should be done on Medium flame. Do not keep the heat high, otherwise they will turn dark from the outside, but will not be properly cooked from the inside
- Traditionally, Soy Sauce, Vinegar, tomato Sauce, Green Chilli Sauce, Red Chilli Sauce, salt & pepper make up the “Manchurian Sauce”. Some people add sugar to the gravy. You can also skip it since the Tomato and Red Chili Sauce have sugar content
- Use a combination of chilli sauce + tomato sauce for sweet, tangy and spicy taste. Skip Tomato Sauce if not a fan of the sweet and tangy taste
- Soy sauce should be used in moderation for health reasons. It is a naturally salty ingredient, hence don’t overuse it. Also, naturally brewed Soy Sauce doesn’t have all the harsh chemicals- just so you’re aware before making a purchase
Restaurants Serving Best Manchurian in Bay Area
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