Gobi Manchurian | Gobi Manchurian (Dry & Gravy)

Gobi Manchurian is a popular Indo-Chinese dish made with cauliflower | gobi. Cauliflower is coated in batter and fried till crispy. Crispy cauliflower is then tossed in a spicy, sweet and tangy sauce.This delicious and crispy gobi manchurian goes perfect with fried rice or noodles. In this blog post, I have shared recipe for both gobi manchurian dry and gravy with detailed steps, Tips included for baking & air frying gobi manchurian. Learn how to make perfect Restaurant Style Gobi Manchurian with step by step pictures and video. 

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Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian is my all time favourite. I make them quite often to serve with my main dishes.This can be made in few minutes and goes well with any Indo Chinese meal like fried rice or noodles. 

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I make them different style each time. If I prefer to make gobi manchurian healthy, I bake cauliflower in air fryer or in oven. Some times I toast them in very little oil in a pan till golden and crispy. Every time it taste just great.

What is Manchurian? 

Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese dish made by chopping and deep-frying ingredient such as chicken, cauliflower (gobi), prawns, fish, mutton, and paneer, and then sautéeing it in a sauce flavored with garlic, ginger, onions, soy sauce, ketchup, chilli sauce.

Manchurian is adapted from Chinese cooking and seasoning that suits Indian tastes. It has become a staple of Indian Chinese cuisine. The taste of gobi manchurian depends on the sauce and the texture of the fried cauliflower. 

About Gobi Manchurian

Gobi manchurian is a popular Indian appetiser made with cauliflower. It is one of the most loved side dish all around the world. 

Gobi manchurian is also known as cauliflower manchurian. Gobi means cauliflower in Hindi and manchurian is a spicy, sweet Chinese inspired sauce. The sauce is made with garlic, ginger, onions, sauces and spring onions. Gobi manchurian is a popular appetizer in India which is loved all around the world. 

To make gobi manchurian, roughly chopped cauliflower florets is coated in plain flour and cornstarch batter which is fried till crispy. Manchurian sauce is made with ginger, garlic, onions, spring onions, soy sauce, vinegar which is thickened with a cornstarch slurry. 

Fried cauliflower is coated in the manchurian sauce to create a glaze which is perfect to pair with fried rice or noodles. 

Similar Manchurian Recipes

Mushroom Manchurian

Chicken Manchurian

Prawn Manchurian

Veg Manchurian

Fish Manchurian

Paneer Manchurian

Soya chunks manchurian

Watch Gobi Manchurian Video

Gobi Manchurian Dry & Gravy

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Gobi manchurian or cauliflower manchurian is a popular restaurant style recipe. Usually it is served two ways in restaurants. Dry gobi manchurian is served as appetiser with soups. Gravy style is served as side dish with fried rice, noodles. 

Even though both version uses same ingredients. The style of making the sauce varies slightly. Both recipes calls for fried cauliflower and manchurian sauce. 

Dry gobi manchurian doesn’t uses any water or stock added in the manchurian sauce and it is made thick and masala like. I like to add a small amount of cornstarch slurry to thicken and glaze the manchurian. This glazed manchurian is preferred as an appetiser or starter. 

Cauliflower manchurian gravy as addition of stock or water added in the sauce and thickened with cornstarch slurry. Fried cauliflower is added in the end so it stays crispier. 

Fried Cauliflower (for manchurian) Ingredients 

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Cauliflower – use fresh cauliflower for making manchurian. Sometimes cauliflower has small worms in them, so cut them into small florets and blanch them in boiling water for few minutes to remove any impurities. It is important to cut gobi into small pieces so it fry up better and stays crispier. 

Batter for Manchurian – Plain flour, cornstarch is the main ingredient in making batter. Cornstarch helps making the fried cauliflower crispy while plain flour helps binding the coating.

Optional flavouring – I like to add some flavourings in the batter like chilli powder, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Sometimes baking powder or soda is added in the batter to make crispy cauliflower.

Oil – I prefer to use flavourless oil like refined oil or sunflower oil for deep frying cauliflower.

Manchurian sauce Ingredients

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Ginger & Garlic – like all Chinese recipes, ginger and garlic is very important not only for flavour but it adds taste to the dish. You can finely chop ginger and garlic or even use ginger garlic paste. 

Onions & Celery – Use large onion to form the base of the sauce. You have to finely chop the onions which coats the fried cauliflower better. Instead of onion, you can use spring onions white part. And if you have celery, I recommend you to add a small amount of chopped celery. It adds the unique aroma to manchurian sauce.  

Bell Peppers – green bell peppers are chopped finely and tossed in the manchurian sauce. You can use red or yellow peppers.

Sauces For Manchurian – ketchup, soy sauce and vinegar are the sauces I use for making manchurian. You can add either green chilli sauce or red chilli sauce.

Seasoning – salt, sugar, black pepper powder are main seasoning for Manchurian. I like to add some chilli powder  for some spice. For restaurant style manchurian, you have to use MSG which is optional. 

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Tips for Crispy Gobi Manchurian

Here are few tips to make cauliflower crispy in manchurian. 

Proportion of Batter Ingredients – Use ½ cup plain flour and ¼ cup cornstarch for the batter. 

Consistency of batter – Make sure you make the batter slightly thick and not too thin. 

Baking soda makes it crisp – A pinch of baking soda can be added in the batter to make crispy texture. 

Cold water trick – Use cold water for making batter which helps crispy texture. For more crispy texture, you can use cold beer. 

Double frying – You can double fry the cauliflower for super crispy texture. Fry the cauliflower for few minutes during the first frying. Strain the fried cauliflower using a slotted spoon and set aside in a paper towel lined plate. Let it rest for few minutes. At the time of serving, increase the oil temperature and fry the cauliflower again till crispy. Then toss the fried cauliflower in the manchurian sauce. 

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How to Make Dry Gobi Manchurian (Stepwise Pictures)

Preparing Cauliflower for Manchurian

1)Take a head of cauliflower, remove off the tough stalk. Cut each floret of cauliflower into small bite size piece. This ensures the cauliflower cooks crispy when fried. Also it absorbs the manchurian sauce batter.

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Blanching Cauliflower

2)Bring lots of water to a full boil in a sauce pan. Add in salt and turmeric powder to the boiling water. If you want your cauliflower to stay white, you can skip the turmeric.

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3)Add in the chopped cauliflower florets into the boiling water.

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4)Once it is added, cook them for 3 to 4 minutes. If your cauliflower is small, it will take less time to cook.

Never over cook cauliflower at this point, because we are going to fry them. So it will cook even more.

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5)Once cooked, strain them in a colander and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside in the colander so it strains completely.

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Batter ingredients for crispy cauliflower

6)Now take your batter ingredients. I used plain flour, cornstarch, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, salt and chilli powder. You can add some baking soda as well.

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Make batter

7)In a mixing bowl, add plain flour and cornstarch. Cornstarch is essential to make the outer layer crispy.

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8)Add in salt. I use soy sauce as well, so go easy on the salt.

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9)Add in ginger and garlic paste. This is optional.

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10)Add in chilli powder. This is optional.

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11)Add in soy sauce.

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12)Pour water in the batter and mix it well using a spoon. The consistency of the batter is important. Make sure you make the batter slightly thick and not too thin or too thick.  

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Frying Cauliflower

13)Dip the cooked cauliflower in the batter.

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14)Make sure it coats the cauliflower.

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15)Deep fry cauliflower in hot oil and fry till golden brown. Make sure you cook this on medium high heat till golden.

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16)Strain the cauliflower using a slotted spoon and place it on some paper towel.

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17)Let them sit and strain. For even more crispy cauliflower, read my notes.

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Ingredients for Manchurian Sauce

18)Take all your ingredients for manchurian sauce. I used onions, capsicum, ginger, garlic, celery (optional), salt, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, chilli powder and spring onions. These are basic ingredients, you can skip or add any ingredients as you prefer.

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Making Manchurian Sauce

19)Heat oil in a pan. Add in onions, capsicum, celery and green chillies. Saute this for 3 to 4minutes till cooked.

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20)Add in salt and sugar to taste.

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21)Cook this till golden brown.

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22)Add in ginger and garlic paste. You can use chopped ginger and garlic as well.

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23)Saute this for 2 minutes till raw smell leaves.

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24)Add in red chilli powder.

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25)add in some tomato ketchup.

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26)Add in vinegar.

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27)add in some soy sauce.

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28)Once all the sauces are added, mix it well and cook till thick and glossy. This is your manchurian sauce.

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Making Gobi Manchurian

29)You can double fry the cauliflower till crispy before tossing it into the sauce. Now just before serving, add in the fried cauliflower.

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30)Toss the fried cauliflower in the sauce. Coat it really well.

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31)Mix 1 tsp cornstarch with some water to make a smooth paste like.

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32)Pour the cornstarch slurry into the manchurian and toss on high heat so the sauce coats even more on the fried gobi.

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33)Gobi manchurian is ready.

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34)Add in spring onions and mix.

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35)Serve hot.

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Variations

Gobi Manchurian (Gravy)

Gobi manchurian or cauliflower manchurian is a popular restaurant style recipe. Usually it is served two ways in restaurants. Dry gobi manchurian is served as appetiser with soups. Gravy style is served as side dish with fried rice, noodles. 

Cauliflower manchurian gravy as addition of stock or water added in the sauce and thickened with cornstarch slurry. Fried cauliflower is added in the end so it stays crispier. 

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Ingredients for Gobi Manchurian Gravy

For Cooking Cauliflower

• 1 medium Cauliflower cut into bite size florets
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• Water as needed for cooking cauliflower

Batter Ingredients

• ½ cup All Purpose Flour
• ¼ cup Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• water as needed

For Manchurian Sauce

• 3 tbsp Oil
• 1 large Onion chopped finely
• 1 Capsicum chopped finely
• 4 tbsp Celery chopped finely
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Vinegar
• ¼ cup Tomato Ketchup
• 1.5 cup Water
• 2 Spring Onions finely chopped

How to Make Gobi Manchurian Gravy

1)Start by cooking cauliflower. Bring lots of water to a good boil, add in salt and turmeric powder. Add in cauliflower and cook for 3 to 4 minutes till the cauliflower is tender. Strain in a colander and set aside. Heat oil for deep frying.

Mix all the ingredients for batter. The batter shouldn’t be too thick or too thin. Dip cauliflower in batter and fry till golden. Drain and set aside.

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2)Now let’s make the sauce. Heat oil in a pan, add in onion, celery, green chillies, capsicum along with some salt and sugar. Keep cooking till it gets golden brown. Add in ginger garlic paste and cook till raw smell leaves. Add in chilli powder, ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar and cook for few more minutes till thick.

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3)Now to make gobi manchurian gravy style. Pour in 1.5 cups of vegetable stock or water into the sauce.

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4)Mix well, this forms the gravy for the gobi manchurian gravy.

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5)Now you can either add in slurry made with cornstarch mixed with some water. Or you can drizzle a tbsp of the batter which we made earlier to fry the cauliflower to thicken the sauce.

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6)Bring this to a boil and keep mixing well.

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7)Just before serving, toss in the fried cauliflower.

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8)Add in spring onions and mix.

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9)Gobi Manchurian gravy is ready.

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10)Enjoy gobi manchurian gravy with fried rice or noodles.

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Baked | Air Fryer Gobi Manchurian

Blanch cauliflower as mentioned, drizzle some oil over the cauliflower, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some cornstarch over the cauliflower and toss to combine. Now place this in a baking tray or air fryer basket. Place it in a 200 degree C preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

For Air Frying

If you are using air fryer bake them at 180 degree C for 15 minutes while flipping in between.

Expert Tips

• You can skip using celery if you don’t have it. But it adds a wonderful flavour.
• Taste and adjust the sauces as per your liking.
• You can make the sauce in advance, fry the cauliflower just before serving and combine to retain maximum crispyness.
• You can use red bell pepper instead of green pepper.

Storage & Serving

Cooked gobi manchurian cannot be stored for a long time because it tends to get soggy. But you can make the sauce and batter in advance and store in fridge. When serving, fry cauliflower and toss in the sauce.

Gobi Manchurian Dry can be served as an appetizer with soups or drinks. Gobi manchurian gravy taste great with your Indo Chinese mains fried rice or noodles.

FAQ

What ingredient for Gobi Manchurian?

To make gobi manchurian, roughly chopped cauliflower florets is coated in plain flour and cornstarch batter which is fried till crispy. Manchurian sauce is made with ginger, garlic, onions, spring onions, soy sauce, vinegar which is thickened with a cornstarch slurry. 

Which Taste Best – Gobi manchurian dry or gravy?

Dry gobi manchurian doesn’t uses any water or stock added in the manchurian sauce and it is made thick and masala like. This glazed manchurian is preferred as an appetiser or starter. I prefer gobi manchurian as starter than gravy because fried cauliflower tends to go soggy once added to the sauce. 

Can we bake cauliflower for making gobi manchurian?

Yes of course you can bake or Air fry cauliflower for manchurian. Blanch cauliflower as mentioned, drizzle some oil over the cauliflower, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some cornstarch over the cauliflower and toss to combine. Now place this in a baking tray or air fryer basket. Place it in a 200 degree C preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. If you are using air fryer bake them at 180 degree C for 15 minutes while flipping in between. 

Is Gobi Manchurian healthy?

Gobi manchurian is made with cauliflower. The frying part is the most calorie consuming step. If you prefer to bake or air fry gobi, then gobi manchurian is relatively low in calorie and is considered healthy. 

What is the secret for restaurant style gobi manchurian?

Street foods and restaurants uses MSG in most of the Indo Chinese recipes. It enhances the taste and makes it addictive. 

How to make cauliflower crispy in gobi manchurian?

Here are few tips to make cauliflower crispy. Use ½ cup Plain flour and ¼ cup Cornstarch for the batter. Make sure you make the batter slightly thick and not too thin. A pinch of baking soda can be added in the batter to make crispy texture. Use cold water for making batter which helps crispy texture. You can double fry the cauliflower for super crispy texture. 

More Cauliflower Recipes to Try

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