Gobi Manchurian is a popular and delicious Indo Chinese recipe that’s made with crispy fried gobi (cauliflower) coated in a delicious sweet and tangy Manchurian sauce. Read onto learn how to make this lip smacking vegetarian version of the famous Chicken Manchurian right at home.
If you’re in the mood for some chicken, then don’t forget to check out my recipe for Chicken Manchurian. It’s one of the most popular recipes on I Knead to Eat! 🙂 Also if you like Indian street food, you MUST try these recipes for Aloo Tikki and Aloo Chaat.
Gobi is the Hindi / Urdu word for cauliflower btw.
Is This a Chinese Dish?
No, it's an Indo Chinese recipe that’s popular in Pakistan and India.
It's not an authentic Chinese or Manchu recipe. It’s largely adapted to the taste buds of people in the sub continent.
Is Gobi Manchurian Vegetarian?
Yes!!!
What is So Special About this Sauce?
Manchurian sauce is a sweet and tangy sauce that’s primarily made with ketchup, soy sauce and chilli garlic sauce.
Sometimes this sauce is made with capsicum (green bell pepper) but I prefer not to use it. However, feel free to add capsicum if you want to.
In Indian and Pakistani restaurants Manchurian dishes are usually bright red and that’s due to the food colour they use in the recipe. I, however, don’t add food colour to the sauce.
What You Need
The Batter for Crispy Cauliflower Florets
For the battered cauliflower (gobi) florets you need cauliflower (of course :P) and also a batter that’s made with flour and corn starch (cornstarch is the crisp maker here) and a few spices.
The Sauce Ingredients
- Garlic and Ginger
- Spring Onions
- Soy Sauce
- Sriracha Sauce
- Ketchup
- Chilli Powder
How to Make It
Blanching the Cauliflower:
We start by adding the cauliflower florets to hot water for about 5 minutes to lightly blanch them.
Once blanched, transfer the cauliflower florets to a strainer and then transfer to a kitchen towel to completely dry the florets. Set aside.
The Batter:
For the batter you’ll need flour, cornstarch, and a few spices.
Mix the dry ingredients, and then at a time add a tablespoon of water and keep mixing until you have a thin, lump free batter.
Frying the Cauliflower Florets:
To make sure that the cauliflower is crispy, we fry the gobi florets at medium high heat.
This frying at medium temperature ensures that the cauliflower crisps up nicely.
Do not over crowd the pot while frying the cauliflower.
Once the cauliflower florets have been fried, transfer them to a kitchen towel to drain any excess oil. Set aside.
Making the Manchurian Sauce:
You’ll start by frying the garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds, and then add the green onions. Cook for another 30 seconds.
Then add the sauces: ketchup, soy sauce and sriracha. Also add the chilli powder and sugar.
Most recipes call for chilli sauce, but I had sriracha sauce on hand and it worked perfectly in this recipe.
Cook the sauce until it’s bubbling and then add the cornstarch slurry and thicken the sauce.
Toss in the cauliflower and make sure the Manchurian sauce covers every bit of cauliflower.
And that’s it!
Delicious Gobi Manchurian is ready!
Serve with garlic fried rice or egg fried rice.
For full ingredients and recipe instructions scroll down to the recipe card.
More Pakistani & Indian Recipes to Try:
- Aloo Tikki
- Aloo Chaat
- Chana Chaat
- Suji ka Halwa
- Chicken Cheese Balls
- Shahi Tukda
- Spicy Chicken Cashew Noodles
Gobi Manchurian
Ingredients
For the Fried Cauliflower:
- 1/2 cup or 250 grams cauliflower florets gobi cut into pieces
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons corn flour
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
- Oil for deep frying
For the Manchurian Sauce:
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
- 1/4 cup spring onions finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce or red chilli sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For the Cauliflower:
- Start by blanching the cauliflower florets (gobi) in water for 5 minutes.
- Take out in a strainer, and let the florets cool a bit. Then place the cauliflower florets on kitchen towel, and thoroughly dry the florets. Set aside.
- Mix all the batter ingredients, and then slowly add a little bit of water and mix. You will need about 3-4 tablespoons of water, but add them one by one. The batter should be thin and smooth, as can be seen in the step by step pictures.
- Heat oil to a medium high temperature in a wok or deep pot. Dip each cauliflower floret in the batter and drop in medium hot oil. The trick is to keep the oil at a medium heat, and not too high, because lower temperature helps the cauliflower florets crisp up. Do not overcrowd the pot with cauliflower florets. Fry the florets for a few minutes (about 3-4 minutes) until crispy and golden brown. Place on kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Set aside.
For the Manchurian Sauce:
- In a separate frying pan, heat oil and add the finally chopped garlic and ginger and green onions. Fry for a minute or so, and then add the soy sauce, sriracha sauce, red chilli powder, ketchup and sugar. Mix and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes or so, until the sauce is bubbling.
- Now add the cornstarch to the water, and make a cornstarch slurry. Add this slurry to the sauce and mix until the Manchurian sauce is slightly thickened.
- Now add the cauliflower florets and toss so that the sauce covers all the cauliflower.
- Serve immediately with garlic butter or egg fried rice.
So delicious, we make this all the time!