A Gourmet Meal: VEGETABLE MANCHURIAN

Nothing cheers me up like coming home to a hot bowl of this spicy tangy Vegetable Manchurian on a cold wet night. And if I get to watch a fresh new episode of 'How to Get Away With Murder' with it, that just makes the evening perfect for me.

Indo Chinese is my favorite cuisine. Spicy, saucy and tangy. It can warm you up or shoo away a running nose. Vegetable Manchurian makes for a great starter, have it by itself or serve it as a meal with Noodles or Fried Rice. There are hundreds of recipes out there for Manchurian. I have tried a few myself before settling down to this one.

I like to add a lot of vegetables to my manchurian (it gives me the illusion of healthy eating). Also, you will notice that I add sauces to my manchurian too besides coating them in a spicy tangy sauce. This adds that extra oomph to them as there is taste in every bite.

If there are any leftover, dry up the gravy and cool it down to room temperature. Then stuff it into rolls to make yummy hot dogs for a picnic or to carry as Lunch. Have you noticed that most dishes with Spices or Sauces taste even better when left overnight? Manchurian is just the same. Try it to believe it.

Ingredients:

For the Manchurian Balls:

Carrots - 1/4 cup shredded

Cauliflower - 1/4 cup shredded

Cabbage - 1/4 cup shredded

Beans - 1/8 cup finely chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Soy Sauce - 1/2 tsp

Green Chili Sauce - 1/2 tsp

Red Chili Sauce - 1/2 tsp

Tomato Ketchup - 1/2 tsp

Plain Flour - 2 tbsp

Ginger - 1/2 tsp minced

Garlic - 1/2 tsp minced

Green Chili - 1/2 tsp minced

Oil - 1 tbsp

For the Sauce/Gravy:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Ginger, garlic and green chili - 1 tbsp

Spring Onion Bulbs - 6 - 8 stalks

Salt to taste

Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Soy Sauce - 1 tsp

Red Chili Sauce - 1 tsp

Green Chili Sauce - 1 tsp

Tomato Ketchup - 1 tsp

Vinegar - 1/2 tsp

Cornflour - 1 tbsp

Spring Onion Greens finely chopped for garnish

Procedure:

1. Take shredded carrots in a wide bowl.

2. Add the shredded cauliflower.

3. And the finely chopped green beans.

4. And the shredded cabbage.

5. Now add the ginger, green chilies and garlic.

6. Season with salt and black pepper.

7. Finally the sauces, soy, green chili, red chili and ketchup.

8. Mix thoroughly.

9. Use Plain flour to bind it all together. The sauces will add in the needed moisture to knead it into a dough like form.

10. Heat the appam pan on medium heat. If you don't have an appam pan feel free to grill or deep fry them.

11. Grease the appam moulds with a little oil.

12. Shape the prepared mixture into lemon sized balls and place them on the greased moulds.

13. Flip to cook on both sides evenly.

14. Once brown and crisp on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside.

15. For the gravy, heat oil in a wok on high heat.

16. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute till brown.

17. Next add the onion bulbs and toss.

18. Add in the red chili, soy, green chili sauces and ketchup and toss again.

19. Throw in the manchurian balls. Toss.

20. Season with salt and pepper.

21. Make a slurry by mixing cornflour with cold water. Set aside.

22. Add the prepared slurry to the manchurian in the wok and mix well. You may add water depending on how thick you want your gravy. I added about 1/2 cup water.