Never heard of Gobi Manchurian? Not surprising. Not sure why but it’s a well kept secret. Gobi is Hindi for cauliflower. Manchuria is a region in China. India meets China. You can’t go three hops on the internet without bumping into buffalo cauliflower wings. But no gobi manchurian. Time for that to change. This is unapologetically delicious stuff. Battered and deep fried. Not oven fried. No pretending. This is all about flavour. And texture. You won’t believe how crazy tasty these things are.
Gobi manchurian – India meets China
Technically gobi manchurian is Indo-Chinese. My tastes run more towards Indo than Chinese so I’ve tweaked this recipe to be a bit more Indian than Chinese. Want it tweaked to China? More soy. Asian chili sauce. Easy as that. The important thing is that you add the words “battered and deep fried” to your cauliflower vocabulary. After that, do what you want. Indian. Chinese. Sauce. No sauce. All good. Really, really good. Popular thinking says this is Chinese cooking adapted to Indian taste. That’s pretty credible. Think Cantonese chicken balls. But jacked with Indian flavour. You could argue the opposite as well though. Could be pakoras or bhajis tossed in a Chinese inspired sauce. Hard to say which way it went. My guess is Chinese first. But I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter though. What matters is somebody came up with it. So we all get to enjoy. Thank you whoever you are.
Sauce or no sauce – tasty either way
These are really good straight up. No sauce required. There’s lots of flavour in the batter. Garlic. Ginger. Green chili, Black pepper. Chili powder. No shortage of big tastes in these cauliflower wings. Serve them up as you would pakoras or bhajis. They make great finger food. That’s the Indian way. Little fried bites. Serve it up with a yoghurt or tamarind dipping sauce. Guaranteed hit.
Or go the distance. Toss them in sauce for a whole different experience. More of a side dish. Or a main course even. I am an omnivore with a fondness for protein. These cauliflower wings satisfy. Cauliflower is amazing stuff. Either way, you can’t lose. Try them both ways. Decide for yourself. Gobi manchurian. The original cauliflower wings. And still one of the best things you can do with cauliflower.
