Skip to main content

Notes from a Wedding : Manchurian

The Indo-Chinese favorite was a best seller at the wedding menu. Our chef made it once without the gravy for appetizers and twice for the main course. One time, I stood by him while he was cooking. You see, I had to. I've followed every recipe known to man, but never managed to cook good Chinese food. Maybe I'd have better luck with this recipe.

First you make the manchurian balls. You need around 2 cups of mixed vegetables chopped really fine. At our home, this included cabbage, cauliflower, french beans and carrots. To this you add a tsp of minced ginger and another of minced garlic. Now add 2 tbsp cornflour, a pinch of white pepper, salt and a tbsp of flour. Mix everything, adding a little more flour if it looks too runny. Shape into balls and deep fry on a medium heat until browned.

Now chop one small onion, half a carrot, a small tomato and 4-5 french beans finely. Grind 4-5 cloves of garlic into a paste (or just get yourself 2 tsp of garlic paste off a can). Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the garlic paste and saute until it is well browned. Add all the vegetables and mix well. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add 2 cups of water. Also add a tbsp of tomato ketchup, a tbsp of green chilli sauce, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce and a tsp of vinegar. At this stage, the cook also added a dash of orange food color and a tsp of ajinomoto but both are optional (and you should add salt now if you are skipping ajinomoto). Bring the sauce to a boil.

In the meantime, mix a tbsp of cornflour with 1/4 cup cold water to make a paste. Once your sauce starts to boil, add the cornflour mixture and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the manchurian balls and there you have the most popular Indo Chinese dish there is!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love manchurian very much. Thanks for sharing. I am going to try this.

Jaya
Indian Khana said…
I guess manchurian is best seller for any occasion :)...
Desisoccermom said…
Simran, you make it sound so easy! I love manchurian but haven't had it in years. This looks like a good recipe. Congratulations to your brother and parents on the wedding.
Aps Kitchen said…
Heya!!! The workshop was in lokandwala..... there is one eggless cake workshop tomoro..... where do u stay?????
Yeh nd a Indo chinese is a real bestseller for a wedding :)
Siri said…
Love the recipe and like Jaya, u make it sound so easy. I never made these at home and I think it is time. :)

Siri

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.