Manchurian is a widely popular Indo Chinese dish in the indian subcontinent. Sold on streets as well as in good restaurants, it is fried vegetable or chicken dumplings in Manchurian sauce. Creatively put together by chinese who lived in eastern parts of India for centuries, imagine Indo chinese is a great fusion of Indian spices and chinese sauces & cooking techniques.
We are huge fans of Indo Chinese food at home. It is a much needed break from the usual daals and curries for dinner. The flavors are enticing and a lovely balance of sweet spicy tangy umami.
What is Chicken Manchurian?
Chicken Manchurian is deep fried or baked chicken meat balls in manchurian sauce. In fact, there are two versions of chicken manchurian that I make- like this one with ground chicken balls and another with chicken cubes - fried and then added to sauce. Both are equally good differing only in texture of chicken.
Indo Chinese Condiments
Indo chinese tastes best when you use of Indian condiments. If you have an Indian store near by, do pay a visit and try to stock up. There are lot of condiments and sauces available, but below is a short list of sauces which will equip you to make some delicious Indo chinese food at home.
- Chings Dark Soy Sauce - Its thick and dark and has a strong aroma, not your regular soy sauce used for dipping dumplings or tasting. This robust sauce can stand cooking and is full of umami.
- Chings Green Chili Sauce - This is hot. Its basically green chillies ground with vinegar and it lends a grassy heat to the recipes.
- Chings Red Chili Sauce - This is red chilies ground with vinegar and it lends more of a smoky rounded heat to your sauce base.
- Chings Vinegar or Chings Chili Vinegar - You choose! The latter has chilli notes along with tangy.
- Chings Schezwan Chutney - Amazing way to start the recipe, the chili garlic base when sauted in oil lends a beautiful fiery garlicky notes to whatever you are making.
Chicken Manchurian
Deep Fried Chicken meatballs in a savory manchurian sauce.
Ingredients
For The Manchurian Sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon red chilli sauce or sriracha
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1.5 cup chicken stock
- 1.5 tablespoon cornstarch make a alsurry with 4 tablespoon water
- 4 tablespoon oil
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- 3 scallions white & green parts chopped separately
- 2 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
- 3 green chilies any hot variety, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
For The Chicken Meat balls
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 2 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
- ½ tablespoon red chili flakes adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
For Chicken Dumplings
- Mix all the listed ingredients except oil in a large bowl. Gently mix everything together using spatula first and then if needed with hands without squishing a lot. Let the mix rest fir 10-15 minutes. If you feel its too sticky (depends on water content of your mince, add another tablespoon of cornstarch). Oil your palms and make lime sized balls with the mixture.You should get about 12-15.
- If you are baking:- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a large sheet with parchment. Place the chicken meatballs in a single layer and spray or brush linberally with oil. Bake for 8-9 minutes until the meatballs are firm and whitish from outside. They will finish cooking in sauce.
- If you are deep frying - Heat up 3 inch oil in a frying pan. Fry chicken meatballs a few at a time until golden and crispy on medium heat. Drain on a paper towel. Set the cooked chicken meatballs aside.
Make Manchurian Sauce
- In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, red chilli sauce, ketchup, black pepper and honey. Taste this concoction a tiny bit once (this would be a strong tasting paste right now) and you can adjust the heat or sweetness as you wish. Keep it ready.
- Keep the chopped vegetables and cornstarch slurry ready. Warm up the chicken stock a bit. Keep everything ready to go because this sauce comes together very fast once you start cooking.
- In a wide wok or heavy bottomed, heat up the oil on high. Once the oil is smoky, add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, scallion white parts and green chillies all at once. Saute for 2 minutes until you smell a nice aroma and vegetables aren't browned.
- Add the soy sauce mix we made earlier to the wok. Saute for a couple minutes on high heat continuously stirring and then add the warm chicken stock. Add the salt to taste. Reduce the heat to medium and let the stock heat up. You will start to see bubbles on the sides. At this point add the baked chicken meatballs and let them finish cooking for 2-3 minutes or so in the sauce. Dont add the meatballs if you deep fried them (We will add at the end).
- Add the cornstarch slurry next and let simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce is a bit thick and smooth. Switch off the stove. If you deep fried the meatball, add them now. Add the vinegar and green parts of the scallions along with some fresh chopped cilantro. Mix together gently and serve immediately.
Notes
- Don't use flavored oils like olive or coconut oil for making the sauce. Neutral Oils are best for the sauce.
- Use any diced vegetables like bell peppers or baby corn etc in this recipe. Add them after the onions ginger & garlic have finished sauteing.
- If you dont want to make ground chicken balls, you can add chicken breast or breaded fried chicken pieces to the sauce. Works great!
Nutrition
Calories: 440kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 25gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 1876mgPotassium: 828mgFiber: 2gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 394IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
janscherders01
I noticed you have changed your recipe 😉 I will try this one. The Ching's brand is available in Holland 🙂
janscherders01
by the way, now you can only comment if you have a wordpress, facebook or Twitter account ...
Jan Scherders
hi
about the green chillies you add to the sauce. Do you add whole chillies, slit or chopped? I guess if you add them chopped the sauce will be really hot (with also the red chilli sauce) ? So I would think you add them whole ?
Tanvi
Its up to you. I would add them slit. I dont mention how to add them because of tolerance level.In indo chinese, chopped chillies are very common, because this dish is supposed to be spicy!
Jan Scherders
Thank you. your explanation helps me, not wonly with this dish but how to use green chillies.
Jan Scherders
hi
The ingredients mentioned in the instructions (especially step 1 and step 3) are not consistent with the ingredients list for the sauce. You mention coriander, chili powder, sesam oil, tomato puree (or do you mean past ?) and scallions in the instructions but these ingredients are not in the ingredients list for the sauce. Would you mind checking ?
Tanvi
I took care of the confusions. Thank you for pointing out.
Jan Scherders
Your step one of the manchurian sauce needs still some attention. Sorry ....only trying tot help