The Big Sweet Tooth: Gobi/ Cauliflower Manchurian

Having talked so much about the weather a couple of posts now, I guess yesterday was the height of things. As I got out of office, wondering why it was looking so cloudy... suddenly was faced with a situation of driving in a terrible sandstorm that had reduced visibility to minimal levels. It was so difficult to see the sides or even the front cars and we had to drive extremely slow. Since I took the city route, it was bearable, but my colleagues, who normally take the highway had quite a tough time seeing the roads and the lanes. This situation lasted for almost an hour till it settled towards sunset. Quite scary it was... however these experiences are not new here, keeps happening... :) And don't worry, I was pretty calm yesterday unlike the storm but yes, when my energies dry out by sleep time, I'm a little monster! Ask my kids... hehe... I guess because of all that dust yesterday, my throat is giving a little tough time today... hmm....

Talking about today's recipe, my B, even though he is a big hearted carnivorous, is a big fan of cauliflower. It is the only vegetable he would eat with a smile. No other vegetable gets or deserves the satisfaction he gets eating cauliflower. The day umma declares is a "veg-day", you will see him run off to the supermarket to get the biggest cauliflower to make something of it. Actually speaking, I am not a big fan of it, so I normally frown when he does that. One curry he loves is the manchurian, but seriously, making it scares me. It's definitely not the taste - but it's the deep frying that scares me. You may have noticed throughout the blog that I normally refrain from deep fried stuff. I get shivers while thinking about it, not that I am a calorie conscious person, not at all!!! So there you go, this is his favorite curry which I could make for him at midnight and he would happily finish it off... Here's the way I make this tempting Indo-Chinese delicacy...

Gobi/ Cauliflower Manchurian

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets and cleaned

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup corn flour

1 egg

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

Water for batter

For sauce:

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp garlic paste

2 large onions, sliced thinly

1 capsicum, chopped

2 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1 cup water

1 tbsp corn flour

1/2 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

3 tbsp chopped spring onions

Method:

Prepare a thick batter from the ingredients mentioned. Mix in the cauliflower and mix well to coat. Deep fry till golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel.

Heat a saucepan. Add the oil, once it becomes hot add the ginger and garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the onions and cook till it becomes slightly brown. Add in the capsicum and cook for around 5 minutes. Add in all the sauces and saute for a couple of minutes. Mix the cornflour into the water and pour in. Add the pepper and salt and cook till the mixture thickens. Add in the fried cauliflower, mix well and keep on low flame for 5 minutes. Serve with the spring onion garnished on top!

Notes:

If you require some gravy, then add in more water and boil till slightly thick. We normally prefer it to be a thick gravy coated on the cauliflower, tastes much better!