Gobi Manchurian Dry Recipe (Cauliflower Manchurian)

Gobi Manchurian Dry recipe with step-by-step photos & a video recipe. A delicious crisp-fried appetizer made with deep-fried cauliflower (gobi) sauteed in a sauce flavored with soy sauce. It is one of the popular Indo-Chinese dishes served in  Chinese restaurants in India. You can serve this Cauliflower Manchurian with fried rice, or noodles.

Gobi Manchurian is a popular dish in Indo-Chinese cuisine. This cuisine is a fusion culinary style of both Indian and Chinese food and flavors. Basically, the Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques are used to prepare the dish that suits Indian taste buds.

I love Indo-Chinese dishes whether it is Chicken Manchurian, Chili Chicken, Hakka Noodles, or Chowmein. They are easy to make and taste absolutely delicious. Let's prepare this popular restaurant-style dish at home.

About this recipe

In this recipe post, I am sharing how to make the Gobi Manchurian Dry recipe. It is also known as Cauliflower Manchurian. Here, I am sharing the dry or semi-dry version of Gobi Manchurian.

“Gobi” is the Indian term for “Cauliflower”. It is also known as “Cauliflower Manchurian” & is popular street food here. It is served as a starter or snack.

Cauliflower florets are coated with the batter seasoned with red chili powder, black pepper powder, ginger-garlic paste & flour. Further, it is deep-fried and sauteed with Chinese sauces. The gobi florets (cauliflower florets) are crispy outside and soft inside.

You will enjoy each bite with a yummy blast of flavors coming from the sauces, spices, and cauliflower itself. You can serve it as a starter or a side dish with fried rice or noodles.

It tastes the same as served in Indian restaurants. You can adjust the sauces and spices as per your taste.

You may also like these other popular Indo-Chinese recipes from this website

• Jalfrezi Chicken
• Chili Chicken
• Manchow Soup
• Egg Hakka Noodles
• Chicken Hakka Noodles
• Chicken Chow Mein

Variations of Gobi Manchurian - Dry and With Gravy

Gobi Manchurian can be dry or with gravy. The only difference is in the cooking process.

Dry Gobi Manchurian is the most popular version. It is mostly served as starters or snacks. Crisp-fried gobi florets are stir-fried with sauces like tomato sauce and soy sauce.

On the other hand, for making Gobi Manchurian with gravy, cornflour slurry is added to make the gravy. It is served with fried rice or noodles.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Cauliflower (Gobi) - Fresh cauliflower gives the best results.
• Seasoning - Black pepper powder and salt.
• Kashmiri red chili powder - It gives a bright red color to the dish. Skip if you do not have it. Most street-style Gobi Manchurian looks bright red in color. They add red food color while preparing the dish. Food color is not good for health. You can achieve the same color with Kashmiri red chili powder and it is not too spicy.
• Sauces - Tomato sauce and Soy sauce. I have used hot and sour tomato and chili sauce. You can substitute it with any tomato sauce/tomato ketchup. Also, use low sodium light soy sauce for this recipe.
• Vinegar
• Flour - Rice flour, cornflour or cornstarch, and all-purpose flour. If you do not have rice flour you can skip it. It gives extra crispiness to fried gobi. Simply substitute rice flour with corn flour/corn starch.
• Veggies - Ginger, garlic, spring onions, and capsicum.
• Oil - I have used sunflower oil. You can use any cooking oil that does not have a strong smell.

For the detailed list of ingredients & their measurements, please check out the recipe card below.

Step by step instructions with photos

Preparations

1. Finely chop ginger and garlic. Chop capsicum & spring onions. Keep them aside.
2. Keep all the sauces & seasonings ready.
3. Cut the gobi in medium size florets. Rinse it well & keep it aside.
4. Boil water & add salt. Add the cauliflower florets & cook for 5 minutes. (Image 1 & 2)
5. Immediately drain it into a colander & keep it aside for 5 minutes. Transfer the gobi to a mixing bowl. (Image 3 & 4)

   

Frying the cauliflower florets (gobi)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine cauliflower florets, black pepper powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, ginger-garlic paste & vinegar. (Image 5)
2. Next, add rice flour, cornflour, all-purpose flour (maida) & salt. Combine. (Image 6)
3. Add water a little at a time (1-2 tbsp) & mix until the cauliflower florets are coated well with the batter. The batter should not be runny. See the batter consistency in the image below. (Image 7 & 8)

   

4. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat.
5. Fry the cauliflower florets in hot oil until golden brown and crisp. (Image 9)
6. Remove & keep it on a kitchen tissue to drain off the excess oil. (Image 10)

   

Making the Gobi Manchurian dry recipe

1. Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a heavy bottom pan over high heat.
2. Add chopped ginger, garlic, spring onion whites & capsicum. Saute for 2 minutes. (Image 11)
3. Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, black pepper powder, & vinegar. Stir to combine. (Image 12)
4. Next, add the cornflour slurry to it & mix. Stir it well & cook until it thickens. (Image 13 & 14)

   

5. Taste the Manchurian sauce and add more salt or pepper, if needed.
6. Add spring onion greens & fried cauliflower florets. Mix it well so that cauliflower florets are coated well with the sauce.
7. Garnish with spring onion greens. Gobi Manchurian is ready to serve.

   

Tips to make Crispy Gobi Manchurian

1. Cut the cauliflower into medium size florets. It should not be too small or too big.
2. Fry the cauliflower florets in batches.
3. While frying the cauliflower florets, do not overcrowd the oil. It will reduce the temperature of oil while frying. If the oil is not hot enough then the gobi will absorb oil while deep frying it.
4. Stir cornflour slurry continuously until it thickens to avoid lumps.
5. If you do not have vinegar then replace it with lemon juice.
6. All the sauces especially soya sauce have salt in them. Take care while adding salt to the recipe.
7. You can add red color to give it a bright red color. Few restaurants add red color to the batter while deep frying the gobi. I suggest not adding food color as it is not good for health. You will get the same result by adding Kashmiri red chili powder.
8. Also, do not make this dish ahead of time. It should be prepared and served immediately or else it will not remain crisp.

FAQs

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