Vegetable Manchurian - Veg Manchurian Gravy

Vegetable Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese recipe which is popular both as appetizer & as Main-course.  This dish comprises of fritters made of mix vegetables deep fried & then mixed with the sauce. The dry or appetizer version usually calls for thicker sauce just to coat the Manchurian balls while the gravy version is more liquidy yet thick & goes well  with noodles or fried rice. For this post, I am sharing my gravy version. 

Chinese food take-away over the weekend was a regular practice for us back in India. Even today when we visit India, we make sure to order our favorite Chinese dishes & vegetable Manchurian is one of them. My granny simply loves this gravy with her veg fried rice. But here in USA, I long for these Indo-Chinese dishes so created this gravy over a potluck dinner & served it with Noodles & Veg-Fried rice (coming soon). 

Ingredients: 

For Manchurian balls: 
¼ cabbage finely chopped/shredded 
2 carrots finely chopped
¼ cup french beans finely chopped
¼ cup of corn kernel (I've used frozen)
¼ cup of cauliflower grated
½ capsicum finely chopped
½ onion finely chopped 
½ cup of celery finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon of ginger paste
1 teaspoon of garlic paste
1 teaspoon of green chilli paste
½ cup of cooked rice  (or as required)
2-3 tablespoon cornflour 
3-4 tablespoon of all purpose flour (maida)
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of hot chilli sauce
Oil for deep frying
Salt & pepper to taste

For Manchurian Sauce: 
½ onion cut in julienne
2 medium spring onions cut in julienne
½ capsicum cut in julienne
1 teaspoon of ginger paste
1 teaspoon of garlic paste
1 teaspoon of green chilli paste
2-3 tablespoon of soya sauce
4 tablespoon tomato ketchup (or to taste)
1 tablespoon vinegar
2-3 tablespoon cornflour dissolved in ½ cup of water
pinch of sugar (optional)
2 tablespoon of oil for cooking
1 teaspoon of sesame oil (optional for flavor)
Salt & pepper to taste

Method: 

For Manchurian Balls: 

Mix all the vegetable into a mixing bowl & then add ginger, garlic & green chilli paste to it. followed by rice, all purpose flour, cornflour, soya sauce & hot chilli sauce, salt & pepper. 

Mix everything together & make small balls. Keep aside. Heat oil for frying & on medium to high heat fry the Manchurian balls until golden brown. Remove & drain on absorbent paper. 

For Manchurian Sauce:

Heat oil in a pan & once hot add sesame oil to it. Then add sliced onions & saute for a minute on medium to high flame & then add ginger garlic paste & saute for another minute. Now add green capsicum, salt & pepper & saute. Add the soya sauce, vinegar, ketchup & 1-2 cups of water & bring to a boil. Now add the cornflour & water mixture (a tablespoon at a time ) & keep stirring to avoid forming lumps. Allow to boil for 2-3 mins by which the mixture will thicken. Switch off the gas once the desired consistency is obtained. Add the balls to the gravy just 5 -10 mins before serving to retain their crunchiness. 

That's our Vegetable Manchurian Gravy is ready, Enjoy with Noodles or Vegetable fried rice

Happy Cooking!!
Shweta