I was visiting my in-laws and had some guests over for dinner. We were around 15 people and I and my mom-in-law were cooking. We decided to prepare 2 types of chicken curries and 2 types of vegetarian gravies, along with a fresh green salad, rotis, meat biryani and Trifle pudding as dessert. One of the recipes we prepared was Vegetable Manchurian and everybody loved it. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients: (Serves 10)

1 medium size cabbage; finely grated,

3-4 carrots; finely grated,

1 cup cauliflower florets; washed and pat dried, and finely chopped/coarsely ground,

4-5 scallions; chopped,

2 tbsp garlic paste,

1 cup or as required corn flour,

Salt and pepper to taste,

Any vegetable oil for deep frying.

For the sauce -

1 tbsp very finely chopped garlic,

1 tsp very finely chopped galangal (or use ginger),

3 scallions; finely chopped,

1-2 green peppers (optional) (you can use red/yellow peppers too); chopped,

1/2 cup red chilli sauce,

2 tbsp dark soy sauce,

Salt and sugar to taste,

1/4 cup corn flour mixed with some water to form a paste,

1/4 cup olive oil (or you can use the same vegetable oil you used for frying),

1 tbsp white wine vinegar,

Water as required.

Method:

Combine all the ingredients for Manchurian balls and knead into a dough like mixture. Grease fingers and palms with some oil and make balls. I made around 32 balls from the above mixture. The number may differ upon the size of the balls. Meanwhile place a wok on a low-medium flame and heat oil in it.

Once all the balls are rolled and oil is hot (not smoking hot). Drop a small piece of the mixture into the oil and if it surfaces to the top of the wok, then the oil is at the right temperature. Drop few manchurian balls into the hot oil and fry them at a golden brown color and crisp texture (see picture below). Drain them on paper towels and fry the next batch.

When all the manchurian balls are ready, we will prepare the sauce.

For preparing the sauce -

If using the same vegetable oil, reduce the quantity of oil in the wok to up to 1/4th cup, else in another wok heat olive oil on a low-medium flame for a minute. Add chopped ginger and garlic and sauté on low flame until fragrant. Then add peppers and scallions and stir fry on medium flame. Then add soy and chilli sauce and combine. Add some water, enough to prepare a medium thin gravy. Then add salt (soy sauce has some amount of salt in it, so adjust as per taste), sugar, vinegar and stir. Stir in the manchurian balls and let the gravy simmer for a few minutes. This way all the sauces and flavors will be incorporated in the manchurian balls. In the end, add the corn flour paste, stir and you will find the gravy thickening instantly. Turn off the flame and serve hot over noodles or boiled rice.

NOTE: The sauce in this recipe is not very thick, so that it could be eaten with rice.

Serving Suggestions -

1. Fried Manchurian Balls can be served as a snack or appetizer (starters).

2. The sauce can be very thick and lesser in quantity (reduce the amount of corn flour paste) to prepare a dry manchurian.

I had some guests over for lunch. My husband suggested me to prepare a chicken recipe that is not a usual curry recipe. But since I was serving rice, I thought of experimenting bit with the usual honey chicken recipe.

Chilli Honey Chicken is a chicken recipe where boneless chicken pieces are marinated with soy and chilli sauce, egg, salt and corn flour. Later deep fried and dropped into a thick sauce with scallions, peppers and mushrooms seasoned with salt, pepper, soy sauce, chilli sauce, fresh green chillies, honey and vinegar. Serve over rice or noodles.

Ingredients:

250 grams of boneless and skinless chicken breasts; chopped into small chunks,

For the marinade -

1 tsp light soy sauce,

1 tbsp hot chilli sauce,

Salt and pepper,

1 large egg; lightly beaten,

Corn flour as required.

For the sauce -

3-4 sprigs of scallions with the greens, chopped and greens separated,

1 tsp minced garlic,

1 yellow pepper; diced,

1 red pepper; diced,

5-6 mushrooms; sliced,

1 tsp dark soy sauce,

1 tbsp hot chilli sauce,

3-4 green chillies; slit vertically,

2-3 tbsp honey,

1 tsp white wine vinegar,

2 tbsp tomato ketchup,

Salt to taste,

1 tbsp corn flour dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Olive oil + Vegetable oil for deep frying,

Some water for the gravy.

Method:

Mix all the ingredients for marinade (except corn flour) and add chicken chunks to it. Slowly add corn flour to prepare a thick batter and let it coat all over the chicken pieces. Let this marinate for around 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Later heat vegetable oil for deep frying in a wok. The oil should not be smoking hot. Then add marinated chicken chunks in batches and fry at a golden-brown color. Drain on paper towels.

To prepare the sauce -

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and sauté until just fragrant. Then add onions and sauté for a minute. Then add peppers and mushrooms and stir fry for few minutes.

Then add scallion greens and stir fry. Now add soy sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, salt, honey, some water (according to your requirement of gravy) and bring to boil. Add vinegar, corn flour paste, stir and remove from flame.

Serve over steamed rice or noodles.

I prepared this for dinner last night. It is not a pure Oriental recipe, but a modified one. Lots of fresh vegetables in a thick tangy, garlicky and spicy sauce served with Garlic Noodles or Fried Rice. I bet you’ll love it, so try it out today!

Ingredients: (Serves 4-5)

1 cup scallions or spring onions with the greens,

1 cup broccoli/cauliflower florets; parboiled ,

1 cup mushrooms; sliced,

1 cup shredded cabbage,

1 cup Bell Peppers (green, red and/or yellow); deseeded and diced,

1 cup baby corn; parboiled and diced,

1 cup carrots; sliced or diced,

15 cloves of garlic; minced,

1/2 inch fresh galangal, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices,

2-3 dry red chillies; broken into pieces,

1 tbsp dark soy sauce,

2 tbsp chilli sauce/paste,

1 tbsp mushroom oyster sauce,

150-200 grams readymade tomato puree,

2 tbsp corn flour mixed with some water to form a paste,

1 tbsp white wine vinegar,

1/2 tsp sugar,

Salt, pepper and dry chilli flakes to taste,

Sesame oil or Olive oil for roasting.

Water as required.

Method:

Heat oil in a wok on medium flame. Add minced garlic, sliced galangal and red chillies and sauté until garlic is fragrant and lightly browned. Then add carrots, peppers, baby corn and broccoli/cauliflower. Stir fry them for few minutes on medium-high flame, stirring occasionally. Then add mushrooms, cabbage and stir fry. In the end add scallions, season with some salt, pepper and chilli flakes and cook for a minute.

Add tomato puree, stir, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, chilli sauce, mushroom oyster sauce, vinegar, sugar and mix until sugar dissolved. Then stir in the sauce mixture into the vegetables. Cook for a minute. Then add around 2 1/2 – 3 cups water and bring to boil. Once the gravy boils, add the corn flour paste to it and stir immediately. At this stage you will find the gravy has begun to thicken. Put off the flame and transfer the vegetables with the sauce into a serving bowl. Serve hot with Garlic Noodles or Fried Rice.

Last month I was in Seattle with my husband. We met up with my school friends and they took us to this awesome Thai restaurant called ‘King and I’ located in Bellevue. Amongst the different dishes we ordered, I peculiarly liked the Yellow Curry, Prawns Rolls, Chicken Satay and their Peanut Sauce was lipsmacking. We ate 3 bowls of peanut sauce, can you imagine! Anyway the best dish that I had was Pineapple Fried Rice. It is made up of Pineapple, Egg, Onion, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Green Onion with our Choice of Meat. But since we had vegetarians in our group, we ordered the rice with Tofu. It was delicious.

Here I am sharing a recipe of Pineapple Fried Rice which I learnt after I had it in ‘King and I’. You’ll like it! Though this is recipe has tofu in it, you can replace it with sausages or shrimps.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked rice; cold,

1/2 fresh pineapple or a tin of pineapple slices with juice,

1 cup tofu slices or sausages or shrimps,

Few florets of Broccoli; blanched,

3 green onions; thinly sliced,

1/2 cup mushrooms; blanched,

1 large tomato; deseeded, cut into half and then sliced,

2 tbsp soy sauce,

1 tbsp fish sauce,

2 red chillies; finely chopped,

2 eggs; beaten,

Salt and Brown sugar to taste,

1/4 cup of Peanut or sesame oil,

Some cilantro to garnish.

Method:

Heat oil in a wok on high flame. Add garlic, onion and saute on medium flame for a minute. Then add eggs, tofu/sausage/shrimps and cook for few minutes. Then add broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, rice, fish sauce, soy sauce and cook for few more minutes. Stir in chopped pineapple, sliced red chillies and tomaotes. Cook for a minute. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb or 10-12 large shrimps,

1 tsp soy sauce,

1 tsp rice wine,

Seasonings -

1 tsp minced garlic,

1 tsp minced ginger,

1 green onion; thinly sliced,

3 Red Hot Chilli Peppers,

1 tsp hot chilli paste,

For the sauce -

1/4 cup tomato ketchup,

1 tsp sugar,

1 tsp rice wine,

Salt to taste.

Vegetables -

1 small stalk of celery; diagonally cut into thin slices,

1 small bamboo shoot; sliced,

4-5 spears of asparagus; tips removed and chopped into inch size pieces,

1/4 cup vegetable oil,

1 tsp Sesame oil.

Method:

Boil some water in a pot and drop all the vegetables into it. Cook until vegetables are bright in color. Then strain and set aside.

In a wok, heat 3 tbsp of oil. Drop the shrimps and cook until they turn pink and cooked. Drain and set aside. To the same wok, add more oil if required, then add peppers and stir fry for a minute. Then add all the seasonings and stir for half a minute. Combine all the ingredients of sauce in a bowl, stir until sugar dissolves. Add this sauce to the wok. Stir in the shrimps and vegetables, cook for 2 minutes, pour sesame oil and serve.