Veg Manchurian How To Make Manchurian My Food Story

on Oct 11, 2021 Veg Manchurian or Veg balls in Manchurian sauce is probably on every Indian restaurants menu! And for good reason! Deep fried vegetable balls that are crunchy and packed with flavour are simmered in an intense, spicy, sour, tangy, umami rich, aromatic sauce till they soak up all that flavour and become even better!

Who invented Manchurian?

Like a lot of Indian Chinese dishes, manchurian originated in Kolkata in the 1970’s and was born in Indo Chinese restaurants there. It is inspired by dishes in Manchuria, which is a region in North East China. Originally it was made with chicken in manchurian sauce, but since India has so many vegetarians, this vegetarian manchurian was born! Manchurian is heavy on soy sauce and usually has a deep brown colour. The Indian influence added things like green chillies and coriander, which weren’t originally added to the dish. But we aren’t complaining because this Indianised version is so so good! Now we have a ton of variations to this recipe like gobi manchurian, paneer manchurian and mushroom manchurian. There are generally two ways Manchurian is made:

Veg Manchurian with gravy usually served with fried rice or hakka noodlesVeg Manchurian dry which is usually served as an appetizer: To make veg manchurian dry, follow all the steps in this recipe as mentioned, but only add 1/4 cup water while making the sauce. The result will be a sauce that just coats the veg balls and you’ll have a tasty veg manchurian dry

Ingredients for Manchurian Balls

Here’s what you’ll need for the veg balls: Finely chopped vegetables: Finely chopped vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, onions, celery, spring onions are used to make the balls. Use a food processor or chopper for best results. I do not like to use vegetables like capsicum because they leave too much water and make the mixture too wet and gluggy Ginger Garlic Paste: Ginger garlic paste is simple, ginger and garlic minced together or ground into a paste. Add flavour and a punch. You can also grate equal amounts of each and use Green Chillies: Not traditional, but adds a nice heat and flavour to the balls. If living outside India, use serrano peppers. Skip if you don’t want extra heat All Purpose Flour and Cornflour: Binding agents mixed with vegetables to form the balls and keep the shape intact as they fry

What is Manchurian gravy made of?

Here’s what you’ll need for the manchurian gravy or sauce: Aromatics: The sauce starts with stir frying all the aromatics – garlic, ginger, green chillies, celery and onions on high heat. All finely chopped to add punchiness and spiciness to the gravy Sauces: Only dark soy sauce and vinegar. The gravy for this manchurian is soy sauce heavy but has a perfect balance of sweet, sour, spicy and umami when all the other ingredients Cornflour: For thickening. Can be replaced with potato starch Herbs: Non traditional again, but herbs such as spring onions (white and green part), coriander, spring onions are added right at the end to bring freshness and flavour

Step by Step Recipe

Once the balls are fried, it’s time to make the manchurian sauce and finish the gravy. It’s really important that you have all the ingredients prepped and ready because all the cooking will be done on high heat, and the dish comes together in a few minutes. 2. Add onions and saute on high heat again till onions are translucent 3. Add all the sauces and give this a quick mix 4. Once the sauce starts bubbling, add cornflour slurry to thicken the sauce 5. Add manchurian balls to the sauce 6. Simmer for 2-3 minutes to help the manchurian balls absorb the sauce 7. Finally add herbs like spring onions (green and white) and chopped coriander and give it a mix 8. Serve immediately with fried rice or noodles

How is Manchurian eaten?

Veg Manchurian gravy tastes fantastic with egg fried rice, burnt garlic mushroom fried rice, schezwan fried rice, hakka noodles and chicken chow mein. If you don’t want to take the extra effort, just serve it with steamed rice because the flavours in the gravy are big and bold and the rice will just soak them all up!

Richa’s Top Tips & Notes

Prep ahead and keep all your ingredients ready to go because once you start cooking, the recipe for the sauce comes together in minutesUse a chopper or food processor to chop all your vegetables for fast, even prepDon’t add any water while making the manchurian balls or the mixture will becomes too wet. The vegetables will leave enough water as you mixIf using frozen veggies, make sure to thaw them and squeeze out any excess water before usingAlways deep fry the balls on medium high heat. This ensures they cook evenly from inside as well as outsideFor the same smoky, restaurant style flavour, use a cast iron or carbon steel wok. Cook the manchurian gravy on high heatTo make veg manchurian dry, only add 1/4 cup water while making the sauce. All the other steps remain the sameTo make this recipe gluten free, replace the all purpose flour with rice flour or besan, and the corn flour with tapioca starch or potato starch