Ready for some Indo-chinese..?

Gobi Manchuri is a well-known appetizer that’s loved by everyone. Gobi or cauliflower is deep fried and then coated with a spicy and tangy sauce. It’s a fusion of Chinese recipe, however, its Indianized now by all the fancy restaurants. So it’s now known as an Indo-chinese food. I prepare this dish usually when we host get-togethers or just another time when the craving kicks in.




Here’s an easy recipe:

For the sauce:

3 tbsp cooking oil
2 medium sized onions finely chopped
1 tsp ginger paste/minced
2 garlic cloves paste/minced
2 green chillies chopped
1 tsp dark soy sauce(optional)
½ green bell peppers chopped (optional)
4 to 5 tsps Tomato ketchup for a thick sauce and also it gives a sweet and tangy flavor.
3 to 4 tsps of Asian chilly garlic sauce (available in most of the Indian stores)
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves chopped for garnish.

For the batter to fry the Cauliflower florets:

25 to 30 Cauliflower florets (pre-washed, and drain excess water on a kitchen towel/paper towel)
1 cups of All purpose flour/Maida
3 to 4 tsps of Rice flour or corn flour (makes fried florets crunchy)
Sufficient oil (canola oil for) deep frying
½ tsp garlic minced or add ½ tsp garlic powder
Few shakes of chilli powder
Water

Method:

1.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add onions and start sautéing add minced ginger, garlic and sauté firther till the onions become golden.

2.Now add the green chillies and fry for a min or two followed by the green bell peppers and fry till they are crisp and cooked thru.

3.Add salt, soy sauce, chilli garlic sauce, tomato ketchup and about ¼ cups of water to make thick sauce. Cover and let it cook for sometime. (make sure the spice level and salt is fine, else adjust accordingly)

4.Switch off the heat and set this aside.

5.Now to prepare the batter for frying the cauliflower fries, combine in a mixing bowl –all purpose flour, rice/corn flour, minced garlic, salt, chilli powder. Make a smooth batter just like how you prepare the Besan batter to fry pakoras.

6.Heat enough oil in a deep dish/kadai to deep fry the florets. When its smoking hot, dip the florets in the Batter and deep fry on a medium heat till golden.

7.Add these fried Florets into the sauce and with a flat wooden spoon mix gently so that it coats the florets. Be gentle while mixing the florets if not they will break and become mushy.

8.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve as an Appetizer or along side fried rice. Yummilicious!

Note: Don’t make the Sauce watery, it should be thick and just enough to coat the floret, else the florets will loose their crunchy texture.