Vegetable Manchurian Gravy

A colleague at work who read about my review on the restaurant Spice Hut was surprised to know that there actually exists a cuisine called Indian-Chinese which is very popular in India. So to her benefit, and for all the others who savour Indian food, here's my Veg Manchurian Gravy which will leave you smacking your lips! It has most of the Indian spices, but the gravy is soy-sauce based, hence the name Indian-chinese:) This tastes best with the Chinese-style Fried Rice, and once you finish reading this post, hop on to that recipe to make a complete meal!! (photo courtesy Zeenews)

Ingredients
1 cup grated cabbage
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup cauliflower florettes - shredded
4-5 finely chopped French beans
1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions
1/4 cup finely chopped green capsicum
1/3 cup refined flour (maida)
2 large tbsp cornflour (to hold and bind the veggies)
1 egg - beaten
2 large tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp vinegar
2-3 tbsp oil
Water - around 4 cups to make the gravy

Spices: 1/2 ginger and 5-6 garlic cloves,2-3 green chillies (all finely chopped)
1 tsp sugar,1/2 tsp msg (optional, salt- to taste

Method
Reserve the chopped greens of the spring onions for garnishing.

Mix all the veggies in a bowl, add the beaten egg, spring onion, capsicum, refined flour and one tbsp of cornflour. Add the salt for this mixture according to your taste (remember, the gravy will have salt too) and mix thoroughly. Take a spoonfull of this batter and shape into small balls. (Do NOT add water)

Now heat sufficient oil in a wok or pan and deep-fry vegetable balls, 3-4 at a time so they do not stick to each other, on medium heat until they turn golden brown.
Remove and keep them on a tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

Now heat 2 tbsp of oil again and add ginger-garlic and the green chillies. Then add soy sauce, sugar, MSG and salt to taste. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Dissolve the cornflour in a cup of water and add slowly to the gravy. Also add the vinegar to it. Stir till the sauce starts to thicken. When it looks reasonably thick, remove from flame and keep aside.

Now add the fried manchurian balls and mix well. Garnish with spring onions and Serve hot with Veg Fried Rice !!

Tip: You can use bread crumbs instead of cornflour while making the veggie balls.


Note: MSG (Monosodium glutamate) enhances the flavour and is commonly used in chinese food preparations. But some people have reported allergic reactions to it. So unless you are sure you have eaten it before, you can safely omit it from the above recipe to avoid any allergies