Dry Veggie manchurian

I love indo-chinese food and especially all kinds of manchurians! It’s just so yummy! Another friend of mine also likes manchurian so I thought why not make some and then all of us can savor it! I found this recipe by Tarla Dalal (she’s my trusted source for most Indian recipes – except south Indian recipes). I wouldn’t say I followed the exact proportions, just went with ballpark measurements.

Ingredients

For The Manchurian Balls
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions whites and greens (I didn’t have these so skipped them)
1 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup plain flour (maida)
2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp finely chopped ginger (adrak)
2 tsp finely chopped garlic (lehsun) (skipped this as well since wasn’t sure if DH would like the taste of raw garlic)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper (kalimirch) to taste
oil for deep-frying

For The Dry Sauce
2 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp finely chopped ginger (adrak)
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic (lehsun)
1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions whites and greens
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp red chilli sauce
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper (kalimirch) to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion greens

Method:

1. I chopped the cabbage and carrot using a food processor.
2. Combine all the ingredients along with 2 tbsp of water in a deep bowl and mix very well.
3. Divide the mixture into 14 equal portions and shape each portion into a ball (if you find it difficult to form balls, sprinkle a little water).
4. Heat the oil in a deep non-stick pan and deep-fry the balls, a few at a time, on a medium flame till they turn golden brown in colour from all the sides. Drain on an absorbent paper and keep aside.

For the sauce

1. Combine the cornflour and ¼ cup of water in a bowl, mix well and keep aside.
2. Heat the oil in a broad non-stick pan, add the green chillies, ginger, garlic and spring onion whites and greens and sauté on a high flame for a few seconds.
3. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce, cornflour-water mixture, salt and pepper, mix well and cook on a high flame for 1 minute.
4. When you are ready to serve (do not do this ahead of time):
1. If there was a gap between when you made the sauce to when you are ready to serve, the sauce would have thickened. That is how cornflour is. So add some water and heat it. Bring it to the original consistency.
2. Add the manchurian balls to the dry sauce, toss gently and cook on a high flame for 1 minute.
3. Switch off the flame, add the spring onion greens.
4. Serve immediately.