Gobi Manchurian

CC#1 loves to eat and cook Indian dishes. Her cooking has progressed a long way from her first concoction of Palak Paneer, and right now, I would say she makes the best Indian food in our house. It doesn’t hurt that some of her best college friends are Indian, and she is now on a low carb diet which incorporates a lot of beans a la Indian cuisine.

She introduced me to Gobi Manchurian last summer when she ordered the dish from a hole-in-the-wall new Indian restaurant. I like the idea of marrying Indian spices with Chinese orange chicken, and a vegetarian dish to boot. But what we ordered turned out bland and uninteresting. Can’t believe I returned to the same restaurant and ordered more disappointing dishes. Not again.

I searched for a good version to make at home and found it in the most unlikely corner: American Test Kitchen’s Youtube channel. A white man whipped up a very attractive Gobi Manchurian, and his method is easy and ingredients spot on. Having gone through a couple of half-day trainings by an Indian home cook friend though, I couldn’t help but bring in the “authentic” Indian touch and rid the last vestiges of white cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower

• 2 tsp cumin seeds

• Ginger, garlic, white parts of scallion or onions, generous amouts

• 1/2 cup ketchup

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 4 tbsp Chinese garlic chili sauce (蒜蓉酱)

• 2 tbsp lime or lemon juice

• Black pepper to taste

• 1/3 cup wheat flour

• 1/4 rice flour

• 2/3 cup corn starch

• 1 tsp table salt

• 2 tsps baking powder

Instructions:

• Break cauliflower into florets, using a small knife to pry open the florets rather than cutting them so you don’t end up with cauliflower schmutz (a great tip from ATK).

• Sauce:

  • Heat oil and fry cumin seeds in good size stock pot until seeds darken (2-3 minutes)

  • Stir in chopped ginger, garlic, white parts of scallion (or onions) until slightly charred and fragrant

  • Add ketchup, 1/3 cup of water, soy sauce, Chinese garlic chili sauce (or any other Chinese hot sauce), lime or lemon juice, and black pepper. Bring to boil, adjust seasoning to taste, and set aside.

• Batter:

  • Mix three types of flour with table salt, baking powder, and 1 cup water. Gently mix in cauliflower florets by hand. Adjust the thickness so that the batter is runny but clings to the florets. If the batter is too thin, add a bit more wheat flour.

  • Drop cauliflower florets in hot oil one by one, and deep fry until golden. Degrease florets on wired rack. Florets will become crunchy once cooled.

  • Mix in sauce and enjoy immediately!

What makes this recipe work: Frying the cauliflower with starch, rice flour and baking powder makes the cauliflower crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The sauce packs a punch with the aromatics, and the sweet and sour concoction gives the dish the extra Indian and Chinese zing. I also tossed in a few buttons mushrooms. All good. Daddy says this is “birthday worthy”!