Veg Manchurian is one of our favourite Indo-Chinese food. I don’t cook it frequently though. The taste of cornstarch in the Manchurian balls always puts me off. Whether I’m at a Chinese restaurant or at home, whenever I’ve tried this, I always wonder if there’s an alternative to using refined or processed cornstarch in this dish.

So, a little experiment happened in my kitchen this time. And I’ve added our very own besan (gram flour) and rice flour into the Manchurian balls while making the mixture. I got a great outcome, the Manchurian balls now have the same delicious taste but with the addition of unrefined ingredients. What more could I ask for? This recipe is a keeper. I hope you’ll enjoy cooking this for your family and friends, and if you’re trying it let me know about your experience. 🙂

Veg Manchurian

Ingredients

For Manchurian Balls

• Cabbage- 2 cups (chopped)
• Carrot-1 (grated)
• Capsicum- 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
• Spring onion/Scallion- 1 (finely chopped)
• Besan/Gram flour- ¼ cup
• Rice flour- ¼ cup
• Salt to taste

For Sauce

• Onion- 1 medium-sized (cut into cubes)
• Green onion- 1 (chopped, only the green part)
• Garlic- 1 tbsp (chopped)
• Ginger- 1 tsp (julienned)
• Green chillies- 3 (chopped)
• Tomato sauce- 6 tbsp
• Green chilli sauce- 1 tbsp
• Soya sauce- 1 tsp
• White vinegar- 1 tsp
• Cornstarch- 1 tbsp
• Water- ¾ cup
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable oil

Method

For Manchurian Balls

Blanch the grated cabbage. Drain using a strainer and keep aside. This step is optional but recommended.

You can use the cabbage directly, but if you discard the first boiled water out of it, this veggie digest well. People often complain about gas and other issues related to indigestion after consuming cabbage. So this a preventive step to avoid those issues.

In a bowl add everything mentioned for Manchurian Balls. Mix well by using your fingers and start making lemon sized balls, keep aside.

In a deep frying pan/kadai (nonstick preferably) heat 1 cup of oil. Fry Manchurian balls over medium heat until golden brown in colour. Drain on tissue paper and keep aside.

For Sauce

Mix cornstarch in water, keep aside.

In a deep frying pan/kadai heat 2 tbsp oil. Add cubed onions, stir fry quickly over high heat until translucent, remove and keep aside.

In the remaining oil add ginger-garlic. Stir fry over medium heat for a few seconds. Add tomato sauce, green chilli sauce, salt, soya sauce, vinegar, green chilies, and sugar, mix well.

Now add Cornstarch mixture into this. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Reduce the heat, add Manchurian balls and fried onions, mix gently. Cook for one minute more. Remove and garnish with chopped spring onions (green part only).

Serve hot with Chinese fried rice or Noodles.

Note:

• You can, of course use All purpose flour/Maida and Cornstarch (¼ cup each) if you don’t want to add Besan/Gram flour and Rice flour while making the Manchurian balls.
• If you want to serve a dry version of Veg-Manchurian, reduce the quantity of water. Use ½ cup of water and ½ tbsp of cornstarch.