Gobi Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese dish that is said to have been invented by a small Chinese community living in eastern India by marrying classic Chinese techniques with Indian flavours. Gobi is a Hindi word for cauliflower. This dish comes in two versions - dry and wet. A two-part process of cooking this dish involves dipping cauliflower florets in a special batter and deep-frying them to crisp fritters.
This is the dry version and can be served by itself with a hot sauce. The second part of the dish involves adding the fritters to a Chinese sauce redolent with ginger and garlic. This the wet version which I am sharing today. This vegetarian dish makes a great starter (dry version) or main course (wet version) and was one of my favourite things to eat when I was in India.
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GOBI MANCHURIAN (Cauliflower Fritters In Garlic Sauce)
Ingredients
- for the cauliflower fritters
- 16 medium sized cauliflower florets
- salt to taste
- oil for deep frying
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup cornflour
- 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 2-4 tablespoons water
- for the sauce
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped green chilli
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander stalk
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt to taste
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup water
- handful of sliced spring onions and coriander leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the fritters except oil in a bowl. Mix well to get a thick pancake batter consistency of the coating. Deep fry battered florets until golden and set aside to drain on paper towels.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add ginger, garlic, green chilli and coriander stalk. Sauté for half a minute. Add soy sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 2 minutes. Add cornflour mix and stir to avoid getting lumps. Cook for a few minutes, stirring till sauce thickens.
- Add cauliflower fritters to the sauce. Mix once and garnish with spring onions and coriander. Serve hot with steamed or fried rice.
I am starting to care less and less that Nigel Slater doesn't maintain a blogging presence when I find wonderful blogs like yours to feed my exponential need for good soul quenching food. Cheers for this blog, for this recipe and for the ethos that gives you the impetus to post such wonderful posts 🙂
I think cauliflower is my favourite vege at the moment. You have convinced me even more so. Yummo!
We'll forget about my ban on deep-frying for a moment, please!! This has always been somewhat of a weakness of mine and I love your version of the dish - the photography makes it even more unctious and appetizing: it's been marked for the weekend!!
The garlic sauce has definitely won me over. It looks absolutely delicious!
I had my eye on some beautiful green cauliflower yday @ the market.
Now I have a recipe to test w it!
All time favorite with some noodle or fried rice on the side.
Thanks for introducing me to this dish, I love cauliflower, I love fried vegetables so this is on my must-do list now!
Interestingly, did you know that <cDonald's in Poland once has cauliflower fritters on the menu... Of course they were nothing like these with this fragrant-sounding sauce. And I love the chilli in the batter. Nice one!
What a fantastic sounding dish Sneh. I love that it comes in two version too. Those fritters look fantastic, and the more substantial wet version sounds perfect for a cold winters night.
Scrumptious! Cauliflower is such a wonderful vegetable and this recipe is mouthwatering.
Cheers,
Rosa