Veg Manchurian

Veg Manchurian

Ingredients:

½ cup Carrot, peeled and finely chopped (about ½ cm cubes)
¼ cup French Beans, finely chopped (1/2 cm pieces)
½ cup Cabbage, thinly shredded
¼ cup Sweet Corn, fresh/frozen/canned
½ cup Capsicum/Bell Pepper, finely chopped (about ½ cm pieces)
1 Green Chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
½ cup Maida/Plain Flour
½ cup Bread Crumbs
2-3 tbsp Corn Flour
¼ tsp White Pepper Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
2 tbsp Soya Sauce
Salt to taste
Oil for Deep Frying
For Soup

6 Spring Onions, thinly chopped
1 large Capsicum/Bell Pepper, cut into ½ inch pieces
¾ cup Cabbage, finely shredded
½ cup Sweet Corn (Optional)
6-7 large cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
1 inch Ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
½ cup Tomato Ketchup/Sauce
2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce (Optional)
2-3 tbsp Soya Sauce
2-3 tbsp Corn Flour, dissolved in ½ cup water
1 tsp Sugar (Optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Oil (Preferably Roasted Sesame Oil)

Preparation:

Preparing the Veg Balls:

1. Place all of the finely chopped vegetables in a large mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients one by one except for oil for deep frying.
2. Mix them well using your hands till you get a crumbly mixture. Add salt to taste and mix them well.
3. Next slowly add little water at time and start to combine the ingredients till you get sticky dough kind of texture. Make sure that you don’t add to much water as the balls will start to disintegrate when deep frying. The consistency whole mixture should be as that of chapatti dough and you should be able to make lemon sized balls without breaking them.
4. Take a small portion from the mix and make small lemon sized balls and arrange them on a plate for deep frying.

Deep Frying:

1. Next heat oil for deep frying and reduce the heat to medium to low flame. Gently drop one vegetable ball into oil at a time and deep fry them in batches of 3-4 balls at time. If the vegetable balls start to break, add 1-2 tbsp of corn flour to the mixture, mix them well and make small lemon sized balls.
2. Fry them till they turn golden brown and crisp and place them in a bowl lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
3. Alternatively, if you are not too keen on deep frying and are health conscious, you can bake them in an oven at 175 deg centigrade for about 20-30 minutes in a mid rack of the oven.

Preparing the Sweet ‘n Sour Sauce:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of sesame oil in a wok to smoking hot. Reduce the heat to medium and add chopped garlic pieces. Stir fry them for about 15 seconds till they turn light golden.
2. Immediately add finely chopped green chillies and let it cook for 10 seconds. Next add white parts of spring onions along with finely chopped ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds.
3. Add bell pepper pieces and stir fry them for a minute followed by chopped cabbage. Stir fry the cabbage for half to one minute.
4. Mix in sweet corn, soya sauce, tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce and give it a good stir.
5. Next add about 2 cups of water and bring the mixture to gentle boil, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Add sugar and then salt and pepper powder to taste and mix them well.
7. Now slowly add corn flour dissolved in water to the gravy. Make sure that you keep stirring the whole mix while adding the corn flour water so as no lumps are formed.
8. Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes and soon the sauce will start to thicken. Switch off the flame once the sauce comes to gentle boil.

Assembling:

1. Transfer the sauce into serving dish and arrange the deep fried vegetables balls in it.
2. Garnish it with chopped spring onion greens or coriander leaves and serve it hot with Veg Fried Rice or Schezuan Fried Rice or any Chinese Noodle dish and enjoy.
3. Alternatively you can serve them in an individual bowl as an appetizer or starter too.