Veg Manchurian

The absolute star of any indo-chinese menu. Yes, VEG Manchurian, don’t lie you non-vegetarians, even you know you cant resist a good veg manchurian and any chilli chicken would fade in comparison. No one ever turned down a veg manchurian at a dining table! that’s why you always order 2 portions of the veg manchurian – sounds familiar?!

This can be served as an appetizer or as a main course along with some fried rice or Lo-mein (noodles). We had this by itself as a meal along with some veg clear soup, which basically is just a by-product of this! lots of veg dry manchurian and a big bowl of veg clear soup – Could you ask for anything more? I think this recipe is a total winner – low carb (although fried :P) and epitome of deliciousness 🙂 Go check the recipe for the veg clear soup here!

You can either make this in a dry or with some extra sauce. I enjoy the dry version the most. This recipe is for the dry one, but you can easily make the other kind by making some more sauce and adding a little extra water.

You will need:

2 cups minced cabbage 

1/2 cup minced carrots 

1/2 cup minced green beans 

• I used my food processor to mince the veggies, I have a really good powerful food processor, that minces veggies without juicing them. You can also use any other mechanical chopper or a shredder or even chop it finely if you trust your knife skills more!!

1 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder – this is the secret ingredient that has a similar effect as that of MSG/ ajinomoto!

1/2 tsp black pepper powder

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup corn flour

Oil for frying

4 stalks of scallions/ green onions, finely chopped – keep the white and green parts separate

1-2 tbsp finely chopped garlic

1-2 tbsp finely chopped ginger

2-4 green chillies chopped fine

2 tbsp oil (I used sesame oil)

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

2 tsp corn starch dissolved in some water

1 tbsp ketchup or 2 tsp brown sugar or honey

1/4 cup cilantro (coriander) leaves – chopped

Procedure:

• mix the minced veggies together and add a teaspoon of salt, mix well and let sit for 15-20 minutes 
• After resting squeeze out all the water – save this to make veg clear soup or thupka/ ramen 

• To the dried veggies add 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp black pepper powder – mix well 
• Next add 1/4 cup of maida and 1/4 cup corn flour mix well – should come together to form a nice dough 

• Next make small balls with the dough. The balls should be tightly rolled 

• Heat oil for frying and fry the balls till golden brown remove on a kitchen towel and set aside to cool down. 

• They should be crunchy and crispy on the outside. Cut open one and check one to see if its cooked through (Also, this way you dont have to resist biting into one!)

• In a flat frying pan take 2 tbsp of sesame oil and fry some finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies 
• Next add some chopped white part of scallions and sauté for a few seconds. 

• Next add 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp white vinegar, 1 tbs ketchup and a couple tablespoons of water – mix and sauté for a few seconds 
• Make a paste of 2 tsp of cornflour with a little water and add that to the sauce 
• Quickly stir and add the fried balls

• Add a bunch of chopped cilantro and chopped scallions greens and toss everything till the sauce coats the veggie balls evenly. 
• Serve hot with some fried rice or noodles