Recipe: Baby Corn Manchurian
Baby Corn Manchurian is crispy fried baby corn in a sweet, spicy and sour. Insanely delicious, it is usually served as a starter or as part of a main dish with either rice or noodles.
What is Manchurian?
Manchurian is not a part of the authentic Chinese Cuisine. In fact it is a part of the Indo Chinese Cuisine which originates from India. Pieces of meat, vegetables, paneer are dipped in a batter and deep fried. Then its stir fried with a sauce and served. If served as a starter less sauce is used. If used as a part of the main meal, more sauce is added.
Manchurian is believed to have been invented by Nelson Wang who was a cook at the Indian Cricket Club, Mumbai. He gave Manchurian both flavours Indian and Chinese all rolled into one. Later he went on to open his own restaurant, the famous China Garden in 1985.
Indo Chinese Cuisine
It is believed to have started in Calcutta when Chinese immigrants opened up Chinese Restaurants and mixed both Chinese and Indian flavours to attract the locals to patronize their places. Spices were mixed with soy sauce and vinegar! I’m a huge fan of Indo Chinese Cuisine but unfortunately not many restaurants in Kenya are able to dish out flavourful and delish dishes like they do in India. Nowadays, you will find Indo -Chinese dishes right from 5 star restaurants, fast food restaurants to food available on the streets.
Memories
When I was staying in Bangalore with my daughter, that is when I first tasted mushroom and baby corn Manchurian and immediately fell in love with the dishes. About 15 years or so, 27th Main Road HSR Layout, was a long quiet road with just a couple of grocery stores, and one or two fast food restaurants. Back then, students from NIFT college didn’t have a wide choice of cheap eating places.
However, just outside Multiplex Stores, a couple would set up their little cart and stools every evening and prepare mushroom, paneer, baby corn and chicken Manchurian. Served either on its own or with noodles, it was a complete hot meal. They made the yummiest Manchurian. Am not sure if the couple are still there.
Some Indo- Chinese Recipes You May Want To Check Out:
- Vegetable Noodle Soup
- Mushroom Egg Fried Rice
- Momo Soup
- Sesame Honey Chilli Potatoes
- Grilled Cauliflower
- Chinese Bhel
- On my list to try is Renu’s Veg Schezwan Fried Rice, spicy, full of veggies and so inviting.
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The Group Foodies_Redoing Old Posts, started by Renu helps the members to make an effort to update old posts. This is the 56TH redoing old posts event. This group helps me to stay focused and update old posts not only with better photos but also trying to make each post more SEO friendly. Some of them I’m also trying to add videos. Check out my You Tube Channel MAYURI’S JIKONI
Before I left Mombasa to travel to Canada, I had a sudden craving for some Indo Chinese dish. With baby corns at hand, decided to make Baby Corn Manchurian which we enjoyed with some Egg Fried Rice. I wanted to take a video but guess what? I forgot to switch on my phone to the video mode! With was like an absolute Daaahhhh moment! Oh well perhaps next time when I make Baby Corn Manchurian.
First Published on 26/03/2013 Updated on 06/08/2021
Ingredients Required For Baby Corn Manchurian:
- Fresh Baby Corn – trim the ends. If too long then you can cut them into halves.
- Onion – use red, white or yellow.. slice them lengthwise or into big cubes.
- Bell Pepper – use any coloured bell pepper or the green one. Cut into chunks. I have omitted them as hubby is allergic to them.
- Ginger – about 1 inch in size. Peel and cut into thin strips.
- Garlic – peeled and sliced
- Green Chillis – use according to your taste. Chop them into rings.
- Sugar – can use white, brown or jaggery
- Vinegar – make sure you use good quality vinegar. I like to use rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Water – for both the sauce and the batter
- Soy Sauce – good quality soy sauce, use either light or dark. Required for the sauce.
- Salt – for both the batter and the sauce.
- Pepper Powder – coarse or fine. For both the sauce and the batter.
- Red Chilli sauce – can use schezwan, Sriracha or any homemade chilli sauce
- Cornflour – or replace it with rice flour
- Plain Flour – maida, all purpose flour
- Baking Soda – soda bicarbonate for the batter
- Oil – any vegetable oil for deep frying and for the sauce
- Spring Onion – finely chopped, for garnishing
BABY CORN MANCHURIAN
Ingredients
- 10 baby corns
- 1 tsp salt
- enough water for boiling
- oil for deep frying
FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 medium onion sliced or cubes
- 1 small green or coloured sweet pepper cut into quarters
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 2 to 3 green chillis sliced
- 1 inch ginger cut into thin sticks
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour or rice flour
- 1 tsp vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp coarse pepper powder
- 1 tbsp red chilli sauce
- ½ cup tomato puree
FOR THE BATTER:
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 -4 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- pinch of soda bicarbonate baking soda
FOR GARNISHING:
- 3 tbsp chopped spring onion for topping
Instructions
PREPARATION OF FRIED BABY CORN:
- Wash the baby corn and cut it into half.
- Put some water to boil and add a tsp of salt to it. When it begins to boil, add the corn. Cook for 3 minutes or till its just done.
- Drain out the water and keep the corn on the side to cool.
- Heat the oil for frying in a wok, frying pan or karai over medium heat.
- In the meantime get the batter ready by mixing the batter ingredients.
- Add water little at a time as you don't want a runny batter. It should be thick enough to coat the babay corn.
- When the oil is hot, dip the baby corn pieces in the batter and fry them. Fry them till they become golden brown.
- Remove and place them in a colander or on a kitchen paper to remove the excess oil.
PREPARATION OF THE SAUCE:
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wide pan.
- When it becomes hot, add onion and pepper and stir fry for 1 minute over high heat.
- Add ginger, garlic and chillis. Stir fry further for a minute or so.
- Mix water, soy sauce,vinegar, chilli sauce,tomato puree, salt, sugar and cornflour in a small container.
- Add fried baby corn and pepper powder to the onion mixture. Mix well.
- Add the soy sauce mixture and quickly mix the vegetables.
- Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve immediately.
Notes
- Use good vinegar like cider, wine or rice vinegar. If you use vinegar substitute you will get a very sharp acidic taste.
- The same method can be used to make cauliflower, mushroom and paneer machurian. If you are using cauliflower, cook it in salted boiling water for 2 minutes.
- Keep the fried corn ready ahead. Just before serving, stir fry it.
- I used my home made chilli sauce. You can use any.
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