Gobi Manchurian

Hi, this recipe was sent to me to try by one of my friends, the link to the original YouTube Video is here. I have typed it up below so it is easier to replicate at home, which is why there is less {} as I already added in the extra detail I thought was helpful. I would recommend watching the video as well though, because it can be helpful to see the processes happening. 

Gobi Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese dish because, although the place Manchuria is in China, the dish was created in India by Nelson Wang in 1975, at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, and shares similarities with both Chinese and Indian flavourings. I enjoyed the sauce that went with it, it had a bit of heat to it from the chilli (not deseeded) and the seasoning was really nice, it was particularly nice as a sauce for the noodles I served it with. Also, if you serve it with rice the soy sauce will go nicely with that too. As I used noodles, my Gobi Manchurian was leaning more towards the Chinese style, but with rice it would lean more towards Indian, personally both would be lovely.

Lastly, if you have other bits of veg lying around in your fridge, why not try deep frying those in any spare batter or adding it into the sauce, I reckon deep fried mushrooms or shallots/garlic (after being roasted) or aubergine pieces would be nice. And, in the sauce why not add some chopped peppers (red or yellow or green would be fine), maybe some sweetcorn (baby or corn) or even some grated carrot. This way you can adapt the recipe to suit whatever you like and can play around with flavours. This batter can be used to make any other fried food as well (battered sausage, battered fish, fried chicken etc..)

Enjoy!

Hazel xx

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Dietary Info:

-Suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians

-Contains Gluten

{Use a G-F flour in place of the plain flour (maida)}

-No Nuts

-Dairy-Free

-Side Dish, can be served as the main with a side also.

Serves: 2-3

Takes: 45min-1hr

Ingredients: 

-3-4 cups, water (700- 950ml) {You may need more/less depending on you pan size for boiling the cauliflower (gobi).}

-2-3tsp salt

-1 small head of cauliflower (gobi), cut into florets

-4-5tbsp plain flour (maida)

-6-8tbsp corn flour

-1tsp salt

-water - to make a paste

-oil - to deep fry the gobi {I used vegetable oil.}

For the Sauce:

-2-3tbsp oil {I used extra virgin olive oil, don't add less oil here as you need more to create a base for the sauce.}

-2-3tbsp garlic, chopped {I used 2+1/2 cloves.}

-1tbsp green chilli {I used 1 whole green chilli.}

-1 small onion, chopped

-salt, to taste

-black pepper, to taste

-1tbsp light soy sauce (use 1tsp less, if dark) {I used dark soy sauce.}

-1tbsp chilli sauce {I used chipotle chilli sauce.}

-handful of spring onion greens

-1/2tbsp ketchup

-1tsp cornflour

-1/2 cup water (120ml)

Method:

1: Boil the cauliflower (gobi): put the 3-4cups of water in a large saucepan and the salt. Bring to the boil and when hot, add the cauliflower (gobi) florets. Boil for roughly 3-4minutes. {They won't be super soft, but you don't need them to be. Instead they need to be quite hard and robust to withstand battering and frying.} Drain and put to one side on a plate.

2: Make the batter: put the cornflour (reserving 2tbsp for later), plain flour (maida) (reserving 1tbsp for later) and salt in a bowl, mix together. Slowly add in some water, to make a thick batter. {Super thick, see video for visual.} Once thick, gradually add in a bit more water to thin it out, this step prevents any lumps from forming.

3: Add the cauliflower (gobi) florets into the batter and mix well to ensure it is covered all over. Use your hands if necessary. Add the extra 2tbsp cornflour and 1tbsp plain flour to the florets and use your hands to mix together. {This will create an even thicker batter, and you will get a crispier cauliflower (gobi) piece.}

4: Deep fry the cauliflower (gobi): in a deep pan, heat up enough oil to deep fry to a medium heat. Add the cauliflower (gobi) but make sure not to overcrowd the pan, do this in batches if necessary. When they start to float and go slightly golden, remove from the pan to a plate, lined with kitchen paper (paper towel).

5: For the second deep frying (flash frying), heat the same oil to really high and re-add the once-fried cauliflower (gobi) florets and fry for about 30 seconds to 1mins, until golden. Don't let it burn. Remove and transfer to a plate, lined with kitchen paper.

6: Now make the sauce: heat up a wok and add the oil over a high heat. Once sizzling, add the garlic, chilli and onion to the pan, fry for about 1 minute over the high heat. Now, add the salt and pepper to taste.

7: To the wok add the soy sauce and chilli sauce, continuing to stir to prevent it from sticking. Then, add the spring onion greens and ketchup to the dish.

8: On the side, mix 1tsp cornflour with about 2tbsp of water set aside. Now, add the remaing 1/2 cup (120ml) of water to the wok and heat through. Once boiling, add in the cornflour and water mix, one tsp at a time, to thicken the sauce.

9: Turn off the heat and add the cauliflower (gobi) to the pan, toss to coat and serve, topped with more sliced spring onion.

While you're here, I have a Pinterest for all my recipes where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe : https://pin.it/2jadeVz