Vegetable Manchurian

If there has to be a dish that I overindulged on during college days, it has to be Manchurian - chicken, cauliflower, vegetable, dry, gravy, sweet,spicy, salty, you name it and I would raise both my hands. With that extra cash at the end of the month, saved from pocket-money each week, I, along with few other girls could be found in all sorts of street side places in and around the college or hopping onto public transport to far away Dilli Haat.There would be plates of greasy noodles, lightly crispy vegetarian(or not) deep fried dumplings coated in spicy manchurian sauce, gossip, laughter, half-finished assignments and a compulsory side of fruit beer for late lunches.

Having said that, indeed my appreciation for this ever so popular indo chinese dish stems from those days. Mum hardly made it, for cooking indo chinese at home is slightly redundant when you are living in India because (almost) always you will end up comparing  it with that fantastic taste from the sloppy joints at street side. So while the hotspots around the city are to be held responsible for  my insatiable  appetite towards indo chinese, I never made it at home, it was only after I moved to States some five years back that I tried recreating it at home. Take chicken in hot garlic sauce or fried rice, talk gobhi manchurian or spicy schezwan noodles,by the end of the first couple of  months here, I started getting there, developing recipes with the memories of how they should taste in my head and trying to replicate that inside the super hot wok. The fact that the husband shares my love for indo chinese fare and we kind of got tired of consuming overly sweet chili chickens & hakka noodles tossed with snap peas & broccoli (yikes!) and accepting the fact that the restaurants here just do not get it(or we like to think so),it was exciting to see those similar tastes turning on our meal tables from our own kitchen.

When you make indo chinese, besides ingredients, bring along a lot of patience to the cutting board. Spend the late afternoon mincing garlic and chopping ginger.Shred those carrots and cabbage finer than you think you would need, sniff and taste that mix of soy sauce with coriander & turmeric and shy away from de seeding those hot chillies, coz boy is this one spicy cuisine or what?This vegetable machurian recipe has stayed in my kitchen for few years now. I often make it on non-meat eating days or when I have a stash of miscellaneous vegetables that need to be used up right away. I would not say that deep-frying them is the best option but then you are not eating fried chicken so its kind of okay.You know what I mean, right?After all, its veggies!

Vegetable Manchurian is a widely popular dish of the indo chinese genre. It is nothing by vegetable dumplings in a  ‘Manchurian’ sauce. Do not confuse the origins of  ‘Manchurian’ sauce – it definitely has nothing to do with that region in South East Asia. Creatively put together by chinese who lived in eastern parts of  india for centuries, just imagine it to be an amber-colored, tangy and mildly sweet but hot sauce with hints of indian spices. Indo chinese is what it is due to typical indian condiments – I make it a point to use the brands from indian store for the authentic taste. However, you can confidently do few a substitutions (see notes ) and use your pantry to try this recipe.

Vegetable Manchurian

Tanvi Srivastava

Veg Manchurian is a vegetarian Indo-Chinese dish in which deep fried vegetable balls are added to a spicy, tangy peppery sauce made with dark soy & chilli sauce.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Deep fried Vegetable Balls

• 1 cup cabbage finely chopped
• ½ cup cauliflower very finely chopped
• ½ cup carrot finely grated
• 2 tablespoon scallions finely chopped
• ¼ cup green bell pepper finely chopped 
• ¼ cup green beans finely chopped 
• 2 Indian green chiili minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• Oil for deep frying

For the Manchurian Sauce

• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce I use chings
• 2 tablespoon Mango Hot & Sweet see note1
• 1.5 tablespoon Red Chilli Sauce see note1
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (hot), adjust to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• ¼ teaspoon ajinomoto optional
• 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
• 1.5 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 3 tablespoon cooking oil
• ½ tablespoon fresh ginger chopped
• 2-3 Indian green chilli hot, adjust to taste, use serrano instead
• 2 tablespoon garlic chopped
• ¼ cup scallions white parts
• ⅓ cup onions chopped
• ¾-1 cup stock  vegetable or chicken, avoid using water)
• ½ tablespoon rice vinegar or to taste)
• Chopped cilantro to garnish

Instructions

 

Make the Vegetable Balls

• In a large bowl, mix together all the chopped vegetables.
• Add salt, lightly mix(do not squeeze) and let sit for (not more than) 5 minutes. Add the all-purpose flour and corn starch next and gently mix together. If you feel that the mixture is on a dry side add a tablespoon or so of water (ideally you will not need it since the vegetables leave water from sitting in salt).
• Heat up 2-3 inches of oil in a frying pan on medium high. Shape into small lime size balls and add to the frying pan. Make sure that the oil is not too hot(else they will remain raw from inside) or too low (else they will scatter in oil). Fry, turning on all sides to golden dark brown.
• Drain on a paper towel before adding to sauce (recipe below).

Make The Manchurian Sauce

• In a small bowl, whisk together soya sauce, tomato-chilli sauce, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, ajinomoto & honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix cornstarch & water and let stand.
• In another bowl, mix cornstarch with 4 tablespoons water and let stand.
• In a wok/pan, heat up the oils to smoking hot. Add chopped garlic, green chillies , red onion, scallions & ginger and cook for a 1-2 or till you smell the aroma.
• Add the sauce mix that we made earlier. Stir for a couple minutes or so until you see bubbles appearing.
• Add the stock. Simmer for 2-3 minutes  on medium-high heat or till you see bubbles on the sides .Add the cornstarch mix to the wok. Reduce the heat to low and let everything simmer for another 2-4 minutes till the sauce starts to thicken.
• Next, taste & adjust the salt in the sauce. Add the vinegar to the wok and stir everything well. Remove from heat and add the fried vegetable balls to the pan. Dont stir too much with spoon at this point.
• Garnish with chopped green scallions & serve immediately.

Notes

1. If you do not have Maggi Hot & sweet and Ching's Red chilli sauce. Use 1.5 tablespoon ketchup + 1.5 tablespoon sriracha. 
2. The sauce can be made 2-3 hours in advance. Just fry up the vegetable balls and serve when you want to.
3. If you forsee leftovers, store the sauce and vegetable balls separately. Toss them together just when you want to serve.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!