Made in China???

Have you ever been to an Indian-Chinese restaurant? In case you haven't, let me tell you that you will find dishes even Chinese people haven't tried yet! Indians have been successful in making something that's NOT Made in China :D.

Here's one of the most popular dishes I learned a long long time back from my aunt. It seems tedious to make but it's not much work once you have chopped the ingredients. Pardon me for not noting the measurements but I usually just eyeball them. Use spices/chili per your tolerance and liking.

Gobi Manchurian

Ingredients:

Manchurian balls:

            Cabbage

            Finely chopped onion

            Corn flour/starch

            Rice flour

            Soy sauce

            Red chili powder/hot sauce

            Minced garlic

            Minced ginger

            A pinch of baking soda (Optional)

            Salt

            Water

            Oil for frying

Sauce:

            Soy sauce

            Tomato Ketchup

            Vinegar

            Finely chopped green chilies

            Minced garlic (lots of it)

            Salt

            Corn starch (If you want to make gravy)

• Gobi Manchurian can be made either with cabbage or cauliflower. Both are equally delicious, but I use cabbage for the crunch it adds to the dish.
• Slice cabbage nice and thin, add chopped onion, some red chili powder or hot sauce, 2-3 teaspoons of soy sauce, minced ginger and garlic (don’t overdo this since the sauce has lots of garlic), salt for taste and mix well so that it is distributed evenly before adding the flour.
• Adding a pinch of baking soda makes the manchurian fluffy, but a couple of tea-spoons of hot oil instead will do the job if you are not a baking soda fan.
• Add half part corn flour and half part rice flour to the cabbage mixture – just enough to bind the ingredients – so it doesn’t become a blob of flour.
• Mix everything well and add a little bit of water and bind it. Be very careful with the water as cabbage itself is very watery. The dough should be thick enough to make a small fritter ball.
• Heat oil in a pan and fry the balls until brown. Keep aside.

• The sauce is what gives the manchurian all that amazing taste! You can either make gravy (an extension of the sauce) or a thick sauce similar to chicken wings sauce.
• Heat oil in a pan – you have to forget about your diet and be generous.
• Add lots of minced garlic and chopped green chilies to the oil, stir until the garlic turns golden brown (Oh, and don’t forget to turn on your exhaust fan :D).
• Add a couple of teaspoons of vinegar, Soy sauce and ketchup and cook until you have the right consistency. There are no right measurements for the soy sauce and ketchup. Some people like it tangy, some a little sweet…so adjust the measurements according to your taste.
• Add salt for taste.

•  To make gravy, add some corn starch and water mixture to the sauce described above. Corn starch makes the gravy thick pretty quickly so don’t use too much of it.
• You can also add chopped spring onion to the gravy which tastes good and makes the dish look pretty. 

• Add the Manchurian balls to the sauce and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy it as an appetizer or eat with some rice if you have made gravy!

This dish is definitely not figure friendly - but it's a big hit at parties when people forget about their calorie consumption. A good vegetarian option to serve at parties..and trust me, it's so yummy people will forget their carnivorous side!