Gobi Manchurian - Dry | Cauliflower Manchurian

 Deep fried Cauliflower florets sauteed in onions & Chinese sauces

Gobi Manchurian, that's the first dish that comes to my mind when I am expecting some vegetarian guests at home. Coz, it's rich & heavy and very seldom vegetarians have an aversion to it and moreover, it's deep fried !! Definitely a winner, right?? Many of those who do not like to have cauliflower curry or gravy or stir fry, would say YES to Gobi 65 & Gobi Manchurian :) And it's very difficult to find a restaurant that doesn't have this in their menu, isn't it?? Be it any cuisine restaurant, this would be definitely on their list... So how about we look into the recipe, which is a perfect side for Chappathis and Kulchas and even fried rice..

Recipe Source: Ma

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 90 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

I Used:

Caulliflower	-	A small sized one
Maida	-	3 tbsp
Cornflour	-	3 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	-	1 tbsp
Pepper	-	2 tbsp
Onion	-	1 no - medium sized
Ginger	-	1 tbsp
Garlic	-	1 tbsp
Green Chilly	-	3 nos
Soya sauce	-	1 tbsp
Chilly sauce	-	2 tbsp
Tomato sauce (optional)	-	2 tsp
Turmeric powder	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As needed
Oil	-	For Deep frying
Spring Onion	-	2 sprig

The Way: 

1. Clean & separate the cauliflower into medium sized florets
2. In a wide pan heat water, sufficient enough to submerge the cauliflower florets. Add turmeric & salt to it
3. When the water boils, add the cauliflower florets to it. Allow it to be in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. Then drain off the water completely. This process is to get rid of the small worms that are prevalent in cauliflowers 
4. In a kitchen towel, pat dry the excess water off the florets. Else they will absorb excess oil while frying
5. In a wide bowl mix maida, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, pepper & salt with water. Marinate the cauliflower florets in this for about an hour
6. Heat oil in a kadai & deep fry the marinated cauliflower florets & keep aside. Place the deep fried florets on a kitchen tissue to drain off the excess oil
7. Preserve the remaining marination mix to add in to the manchurian
8. In a kadai or wok heat 2 tbsp oil. Add chopped ginger, garlic & green chilly & saute
9. Add chopped onions & whites of the spring onions & saute till translucent
10. Now tip in the sauces - soya sauce, chilly sauce, tomato sauce & pepper powder
11. Add the fried cauliflower florets & mix well
12. Now add the remaining marination mix to the manchurian. If the quantity is less add in little corn flour and mix with water & add this to the manchurian & saute well
13. Remove from fire & garnish with the greens of the spring onion 

Cheers,

Chitz

Chicken Spring Rolls | Chinese Chicken Spring Rolls using Pastry Sheets

What's the first dish that comes to your mind when you hear 'Chinese' ? It must be 'Fried Rice' or 'Noodles', correct? Okay, now what's it that comes to your mind when I say 'Chinese Starter'. For me it's always 'Spring Rolls'. A visit to the Chinese restaurant is never complete without gulping this all time favorite of mine. And yes, not to for get the 'Sweet corn corn chicken soup'. I used to order this every other time, that my dad used to ask me, 'Why don't you try something new at least this time?' :D

My mom used to make these spring rolls for us at home. So I knew it was not a Herculean task, barring the vegetable chopping. I think that's the only time consuming factor in Chinese cuisine. Once that's done, the rest is very simple.  It is one of the all time favorites of Deeps too.. He simply loves them and would be in full praises when I make them. And he did come home very early from office yesterday. I am still not sure which one of these two is the reason, 'Not much work today' (as he said) or 'I am making spring rolls for evening tea today' (as I told him in the morn). Anyways we both enjoyed this little delicacies over a hot cup of tea.

Recipe from Ma

I Took:

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 nos

I Used:

Carrot	-	1 cup (refer notes)
Capsicum	-	1 cup
Beans	-	½ cup
Celery	-	½ cup
Chicken	-	1 cup
Soya Sauce	-	1 ½ tsp
Tomato Sauce	-	1 tsp
Chilly sauce	-	1 tsp
Worcestershire sauce	-	1 tsp
Sugar	-	½ tsp
Pepper powder	-	½ tsp
Ground paste	-	1 tbsp
Oil	-	For deep frying
Salt	-	As needed
Aginomoto	-	A pinch (optional)

To grind:

Ginger	-	1 tbsp
Garlic	-	1 tbsp
Chilly powder	-	1 tsp

The Way:

1. Chop all the vegetables. Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces (like chops)
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the chicken pieces. Add a little salt & pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes
3. Then add the ground paste and onion and mix well (Ignore the previous step for veg spring rolls)
4. After 2 minutes of sauteeing add carrot, beans, capsicum, celery and aginomoto and fry
5. Then mix in salt, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly sauce, worcestershire  sauce and the remaining pepper powder and saute in
6. The veggies should become crisp & crunchy. Do not over cook as they again have to be deep fried
7. The filling for the roll is ready. Allow it to cool and dry. Moisture content in the filling will make the wrapper wet which will suck in more oil during frying. Hence best to wait till the filling has cooled down with minimum moisture in it
8. Now off to the spring roll sheets. Defrost them to room temperature before using them. Use the sheets after defrosting as they will dry out & crack if left unattended 
9. Lay out one of the sheet. Place about a tbsp (depending on the size of your sheet) of the filling on one corner. Lesser the filling, the better. Over sized filling have a tendency to break apart in oil

1. Fold over that corner and roll in
2. Fold over both the left & right sides
3. Make sure there is very little or no air pockets when you fold in the sheet, as they can allow oil to get inside the roll
4. At this point you can freeze the rolls if required for future use. Make sure the rolls are placed one aside the other (not on top) & covered suitably to prevent drying while freezing
5. Heat oil in a kadai. Deep fry the rolls. Keep turning the over in oil till the turn golden brown evenly 
6. Place them over tissue paper to drain off the excess oil. Serve with tomato ketchup

Notes:

• You can include more vegetables like cabbage & cauli flower. I had run out of them. So did not use here
• Aginomoto is added to enhance flavor but comes with a list of side effects. So highly recommended to avoid

Linking this to 'Flavors of Chinese Cuisine' event at Julie's 'Erivum Puliyum'

Cheers,

Chitz