Vegetable Manchurian

I never knew that there is a fusion cuisine for Chinese and Indian until I tried this vegetable Manchurian, it looks like meatballs but trust me they are made out of chopped vegetables in a hot soy based gravy. This dish originated from the Chicken Manchurian which is probably the most popular Indian Chinese cuisine. Chicken Manchurian or Manchurian Chicken was created by a person named Nelson Wang in 1975 when he was working as a caterer of Chinese food at the Cricket Club of India, he was asked by a client to create something different which can’t be found on any menu and this dish was born. What he did was he used basic Indian ingredients such as ginger, green chillies, red onion and garlic then dressed it with Asian style sauce. Manchurian is not restricted to chicken hence we have this post which is cabbage based vegetable, there is also a cauliflower based one, seafood, mutton as well as paneer.

A really nice fusion dish where you taste both cuisines in one bite, it feels like you are eating some stir fried mixed veggies with a nice hot kick.

Vegetable Manchurian

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Vegetable Balls

• 1½ packed cups finely chopped cabbage
• ½ packed cup finely chopped carrot
• ½ packed cup finely chopped capsicum
• ¼ packed cup finely chopped beans
• ¼ cup packed cup spring onions
• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 tbsp chilli garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ cup vegetable stock
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt
• oil

Sauce

• 4 stalks spring onions, white part only finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp finely minced ginger
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• peanut oil
• salt
• chopped spring onions, for garnishing

Instructions

1. Prepare a large wok or similar, add and heat up oil for deep frying.
2. In a bowl combine all vegetable ball ingredients, form them into balls then set them aside. Add water if needed.
3. Place each ball one by one in the hot oil and deep fry for around 5 minutes or until balls are cooked. Remove from wok then place in a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
4. Using a separate wok add oil then sauté garlic, chillies and ginger.
5. Add sping onions then stir fry for a minute.
6. Add vegetable balls and stir fry for 3 minutes.
7. Combine together soy sauce, brown sugar, tomato ketchup, vinegar, vegetable stock and cornstarch. Pour solution into the wok, bring to a boil then simmer until it thickens.
8. Place on a serving dish then garnish with chopped spring onions.

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