Cauliflower/Gobi Manchuria
A delicoius crisp fried Indo-Chinese appetizer, made by tossing golden fried cauliflower florets in a sweet, spicy and tangy sauces.
Ingredients
- 500 gms cauliflower florets or 1 small cauliflower
- oil for deep fry
For batter
- ½ cup self raising flour or equal parts of cornstarch and all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 1 tbsp crushed ginger and garlic or paste
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
- 1 tbsp papirika adjust less or more to spicy levels
- ¼ tsp turmeric
For sauce
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp green/red chili sauce
- 1 tsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp sri racha sauce for extra heat.
To assemble dish
- 2 tsp oil
- 2 tbsp chopped garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped/grated ginger
- ½ cup spring onions
- 100 gms green bell peppers can be skipped
- 50 gms yellow bell peppers optional
- 50 gms red bell peppers optional
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
Clean/Cook Cauliflower florets
- Clean by soaking cauliflower florets in hot water with little salt for 10 - 15 mins and drain (or)Blanch cauliflower florets in boiling water for 2 mins and drain.
- Pat Dry and set aside.
Prepare Batter to fry
- Combine flours, salt, paparika, turmeric, crushed ginger and garlic paste, cumin powder, coriander powder.
- Add enough water to form a meduim consistency batter and set aside.
Prepare the Manchuria Sauce
- In a bowl add vinegar,soy sauce, ketchup, chili sauce,hot sauce(sri racha) and mix till combined.
DeepFry/Pan fryBake/ Air fry the florets
- Deep fry : Heat oil in a pan and dip the cauliflower florets in the batter and fry till golden.
- Bake : Toss moist florets in a dry flour and spices mixture and bake them in a preheated oven at 400°F/200°C 25 – 30 mins till brown tossing halfway if needed.
- Air Fry : Dip the florets in the batter and line them in a single layer on the tray. Spray oil as needed and air fry in preheated air fryer at 400 F/200 C for 12 mins. Turn them over and fry till brown usually 7 – 8 minutes.
- Pan Fry : Add 2 tsps oil in a pan and fry batter dipped florets till brown.
Make Manchuria
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet and add chopped garlic, chopped ginger and fry for a minute.
- Add chopped spring onions (white) and saute.
- Add bell peppers , salt, pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes till slightly tender.
- Add prepared manchuria sauce and stir to combine.
- Add fried cauliflower florets and toss to combine the sauces together for a minute.
- Garnish with green spring onions and serve as is or with noodles , fried rice.
To Make Gravy
- Add 2 Tbsp Cornflour and ½ cup water to the manchuria sauce. add additional water while cooking.
- Taste and add salt , pepper, papirika, sauces as needed and when the gravy starts to thicken add the fried cauliflower florets.
- Garnish as needed.