Gobi Manchurian Recipe | Cauliflower Manchurian
Updated: February 25, 2022, By Swasthi
Gobi manchurian recipe – Make the best super delicious & crispy gobi manchurian at home with this simple recipe. Cauliflower manchurian is one of the most popular manchurian dishes from Indo chinese cuisine. Gobi means cauliflower in hindi & manchurian is a sweet, tangy & slightly spicy sauce made with chilli sauce, vinegar, ginger & garlic.
This delicious crisp fried appetizer is very popular in Indian subcontinent. It makes its appearance everywhere in street stalls, restaurants and even in parties. Gobi manchurian is not an authentic Chinese dish nor a manchu dish but is a fusion of both the Indian & Chinese cuisine.
If you are new to Indo chinese cuisine then read on to know more.
What is Gobi Manchurian?
Gobi Manchurian is a popular Indo Chinese appetizer made with cauliflower, corn flour, soya sauce, vinegar, chilli sauce, ginger & garlic.
To make gobi manchurian, cauliflower is first coated in batter & then deep fried until crisp. Then these are tossed in sweet, sour and hot manchurian sauce.
Though a manchurian recipe can be made using chicken, mixed vegetable, soya chunks, fish etc – this one made with cauliflower has very much been loved and raved by most Indians.
The aroma and taste of fried cauliflower makes gobi manchurian a unique & super delicious appetizer.
This crispy gobi manchurian recipe is roughly adapted from the other manchurian recipes on the blog,
Veg manchurian
Chicken manchurian
Fish manchurian
There are 2 variations of gobi Manchurian – first one is a dry or a semi dry version & the second one a gravy version.
Which one tastes best – dry or gravy gobi manchurian?
My vote is for the dry or semi dry version of gobi manchurian. It is tasty & is much healthier than the gravy version. The major ingredient used to make the gravy is the corn starch which I always prefer to minimize.
Moreover the gravy version also needs more amounts of soya sauce and chilli sauce which I don’t opt. Over all it is a personal choice.
In this post I have included instructions for all the 3 versions – dry, semi dry & gravy versions. In the video I have shared how to make dry crispy gobi manchurian without using corn starch for the manchurian sauce.
For making semi dry & gravy, do check the notes in the recipe card
Can you bake gobi?
Yes you can bake them. Rinse and drain the florets. Toss the moist florets in spices first and then in 2 to 4 tbsps flour. Dust off the excess flour and place them in a greased tray. Ensure the cauliflower is moist otherwise the dry ingredients will not coat them well. You may check the details on this post – Baked gobi 65
What to serve with gobi manchurian?
Dry gobi Manchurian is served as a starter or appetizer so you don’t need anything else. It has a right balance of slightly spicy, sour & sweet tastes so it tastes amazingly delicious on its own.
However if you are making it for a meal. Serve it alongside hakka noodles or fried rice. Gobi Manchurian gravy can be served as a side with any noodles, fried rice or even with plain fluffy long grain rice.
How to make the recipe glutenfree?
For gluten free version just replace all purpose flour with corn flour or arrowroot powder. Use gluten free sauces.
More Cauliflower recipes
Cauliflower Stir Fry
Aloo Gobi
Cauliflower Curry
Gobi 65
Crispy Gobi Pakoda
Photo Guide
How to Make Gobi Manchurian (Stepwise Photos)
Preparation
1. Clean cauliflower florets and add them to hot water, not to very hot or boiling water. Rest them for 3 to 5 mins. Discard the water and rinse them well few times. Drain them to a colander. Allow the water to drain completely.
2. Spread them on a clean cotton cloth or a wide colander. Air dry for sometime. This is done to remove excess moisture after washing. I usually leave them in a wide basket colander for sometime.
3. Begin to heat oil in a kadai on a medium flame. Meanwhile prepare the batter. To a large mixing bowl, add plain flour/ maida, corn flour, red chilli powder, salt and pepper. Mix.
4. Add water as needed and make a free flowing batter.
5. The batter must be smooth, free flowing and thick. It should not be runny or too thick. Check the salt, if needed add more.
6. Add gobi to this batter and coat them well.
7. Check if the oil is hot enough and pick up the florets one by one and gently slide in hot oil.
Fry cauliflower
8. This two step guide will help you to make perfect crunchy fried gobi.
Make sure the flame is medium when you begin to add the florets and the oil is hot. Gradually as you add more florets to the pan, slightly increase the flame to maintain the temperature.
9. Once you finish adding the florets, regulate the flame to medium again and keep frying stirring often. At one point you will see that the bubbles begin to cease or at least reduce, then put the flame to low and allow them to fry for 2 to 3 mins without burning. During this 2 to 3 mins you have to keep stirring without stopping else they may get burnt.
10. The above 2 steps give the same effect of double frying the gobi which is usually done in restaurants. Remove them when they are golden.
11. Drain them on a kitchen tissue. This recipe requires frying gobi for longer time, the oil is no longer good to use. Just discard it.
Make Manchurian Sauce
12. Add 1 ½ tbsp fresh oil in a wide pan or wok and heat it. Add garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute them well for 1 to 2 mins. Do not over fry as it makes the manchurian bitter.
13. Add onions or spring onions and capsicum. Even onion works well here. Finely chopped capsicum lends a very good flavor to the sauce. Saute this for 1 to 2 mins.
14. Add soya sauce. Prefer organic or at least naturally brewed soya sauce for health reasons.
15. Add red chilli sauce, red chilli paste and vinegar. To make red chilli paste, mix chilli powder with little water. Do not add dry powder to the pan, this may make the sauce bitter.
16. Add sugar.
17. Mix everything well.
18. Pour 3 tbsps of water. Mix it very well and allow to cook on a low heat until the sauce thickens. Red chilli sauce has already starch added to it so as we add water and cook it turns saucy.
19. Add coarsely crushed pepper. When the sauce turns thick turn off the stove and allow to cool down a bit. Just for 2 mins. Taste the sauce. It has to be slightly sour, sweet & hot. If needed you can adjust the salt, vinegar and red chilli sauce as well. I have not used any extra sauce than mentioned in the recipe card.
20. Add fried gobi, just before serving. Toss well.
21. Garnish with spring onions.
Serve gobi manchurian as a appetizer or a side with fried rice or noodles.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Gobi Manchurian Recipe | Cauliflower Manchurian
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 small head (500 grams) cauliflower /gobi (250 grams cleaned florets)
- Oil for deep frying as needed
To Make Batter
- ½ cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour ( prefer organic or at least unbleached)
- ¼ cup (32 grams) cornstarch (white corn flour or yellow corn flour)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or paste (less spicy variety) (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper crushed or ground
- ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ cup water (more if needed)
To Make Gobi Manchurian Sauce
- 1½ tablespoons oil (for sauce)
- 1 tablespoon garlic fine chopped
- ½ tablespoon ginger fine chopped
- 1 green chili chopped (optional)
- â…“ cup onions or spring onions/ scallions fine chopped – green & white separated
- ¼ cup bell pepper (capsicum chopped fine) (optional)
- 1 tablespoon soya sauce (organic or naturally brewed)(or tamari)
- 2 to 3 tablespoon Red Chilli sauce (or 2 tbsps hot & sweet sauce, adjust to taste, maggi/chings brand)
- 1 to 2 tablespoon tomato ketchup (optional, use if using hot sauce)
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (or paprika optional)
- ½ tablespoon rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (adjust to taste)
- salt as needed
- 3 to 4 tablespoons water
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon black pepper crushed or ground
- â…› teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 2 tablespoons spring onion greens chopped for garnish
Instructions
Preparation
- Cut gobi to medium size separate florets and add them to 3 cups of slightly hot water (not boiling hot). Rest for 5 mins, discard the water and rinse with cold water. Drain them to a colander.
- Spread on a clean cloth or pat dry with paper tissues, to remove excess moisture. You can do this ahead and set aside at room temperature. Any moisture in the gobi will cook it to soft and not crisp.
- Heat up the oil for deep frying on a medium heat.
- Meanwhile make the batter by adding cornstarch, all-purpose flour, red chilli powder, black pepper and salt to a mixing bowl.
- Mix and add water little by little as needed and make a free flowing lump-free batter. The consistency has to be medium and not too thick or very runny. Adjust salt as needed by tasting the batter. (check video)
- Add the gobi florets to the batter (in batches), coat them well.
Fry Cauliflower
- When the oil turns hot enough, check by dropping a small amount of batter to the hot oil. The batter has to sizzle and rise to the surface without browning. This is the correct temperature.Â
- Pick up each cauliflower floret with a spoon or fingers & gently drop them one by one to the hot oil. The flame has to be medium initially and should be increased slightly as more gobi is added. Avoid disturbing/ stirring them for 1 to 2 minutes, as the coating can easily turn messy.
- Reduce the flame to medium and fry until the florets turn golden and crisp. Keep stirring in between for even frying. Remove them with a spider, shaking gently to get rid of the excess oil.
- Transfer to a kitchen tissue/paper towel or a steel colander. Repeat the same steps of adding the rest of the cauliflower florets to the batter, coating them well and then frying them in hot oil until crisp. Oil should be medium hot and not smoking hot, before you fry the next batch.
- For extra crisp gobi manchurian, you can also refry the once fried gobi again in oil. I usually do not do it as frying them once is good enough to get very good crisp manchurian with this recipe.
How to Make Gobi Manchurian
- Optional: Mix together red chili powder with little water (1 tbsp) to a paste and keep aside. This step is optional and is used mainly for the red color. Â
- Prepare the sauce: Add soya sauce, red chili sauce, tomato ketchup, red chili paste, sugar and vinegar to a small bowl and keep this aside. (for gravy version refer the notes section below).
- Heat oil in a wide pan or wok. Add garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute for a minute or two.
- Then add spring onions whites & bell pepper. Saute them on a high flame for 2 mins.Â
- Pour the sauce and water. Mix well and cook stirring until the sauce turns thick. Add black pepper and turn off the heat.
- Taste test and adjust the heat and salt levels to your taste. The sauce has to be slightly tangy, sweet & hot. If you want you may add more sauce to preference.
- Allow the sauce to cool for 1 to 2 mins. Add the fried cauliflower and stir gently to coat well with the manchurian sauce.
- Garnish gobi manchurian with spring onion greens. Serve immediately as a appetizer or as a side with noodles or fried rice.
Notes
- Red chilli sauce is a sweet, hot and slightly tangy sauce. If you do not have it, use 1 to 2 tsps of any hot sauce along with tomato ketchup. Adjust the sugar as well.
To make gobi manchurian semi-dry
- Double the amount of soya sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, vinegar and tomato sauce (ketchup). Use red chilli powder as required. I double it.
- Mix 1 tsp corn flour with half cup water. Stir in to the bubbling sauces. Taste and adjust the sweet, spice & tang.
To make gobi manchurian gravy
- Triple the amount of soya sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, vinegar & tomato sauce (ketchup). I triple the red chilli powder as well for this. But if you want it less spicy then you may just double it.
- Mix ¾ tbsp corn flour with 1 cup of water and stir in to the bubbling sauces. Taste the sauce when it thickens and adjust the sweet, spice & tang.
- Please adjust the amount of chilli powder as needed. I use a low heat chilli powder. Some readers mentioned it turned out too spicy for them. You can totally skip the chilli powder in the seasoning as it is used only for color.
- Since cauliflower is fried for long time, for health reasons discard the used oil and do not reuse it.
- Instead of frying you can also bake the cauliflower. Rinse and drain the florets. Toss the moist florets in spices first and then in 2 to 4 tbsps flour. Dust off the excess flour and place them in a greased tray. Ensure the cauliflower is moist otherwise the dry ingredients will not coat them well. You may check the details on this post – Baked gobi 65
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
This recipe makes by far the best gobi manchurian. Thank you for posting
This recipe is fabulous. Our gobi manchurian is super crispy and the sauce is so delicious. I use Chings sauce because it is easily available in the US. Thank you for posting such great stuff
I always follow this recipe whenever I make Gobi Manchurian and get it perfect every time. Thank you Swasthi
Amazing gobi manchurian recipe. Turned out very good. I experimented with Worcestershire sauce because I didn’t have some required ingredients. I am going to order soon but I am unclear about which red chili sauce to buy. Thanks for your reply.
Thanks for trying Diana. You can buy any Asian red chili sauce, basically it is a sweet, sour and slightly hot sauce. Hope this helps
Thank you! I have been making this recipe for more than 5 years and my guests rave about it. I love soaking the cauli in warm water and that really makes a difference.
So happy to read that Madeleine. Thank you for being a long time reader!
It was simply superb …turned out great.
Thanks for letting me know Geeta
The gobi manchurian came out very well, in appearance and taste. Everyone loved it. The detailed step by step recipe and the tips helped me a lot in trying this recipe with confidence.
Glad to read that Rose. Thank you so much for sharing back
Best gobi manchurian recipe! Included a dash of oyster sauce and it was a blast.
Your website is my top preference for Indian recipes and this gobi manchurian is our family favorite. I have made this recipe many times and have a few queries. Why do you rest the cauliflower in hot water? I know you are not blanching or boiling it. But I found a huge difference when I omitted this step. So my curiosity kicks in there. Can the red chili sauce be substituted with any other chili garlic sauce? I have moved to a new location recently and there is no Indian stores around. I would use the Asian red chili sauce earlier which was quite good but now my stores has only a chili garlic sauce. Would it make a huge difference? Thanks for your reply
Thank you so much for the trust Pam. Yes it is not boiling or blanching but only soaking and glad you found the difference. It is actually done to clean down and refresh the cauliflower. Due to extreme weather conditions, cauliflower may look wilted or limpy and this step improves the veggie. Also any hidden bugs come down to the water. However this step may be omitted if your cauliflower is super clean and fresh. The only difference between the red chili and chili garlic sauce is the inclusion of garlic so you may use them interchangeably. Any Asian style sweet hot and tangy sauce works. Hope this helps.
Hi Swathi – the baked cauliflower instructions are not totally clear to me. Do I bake the cauliflower with the spices and flour, and then (after baking) toss it into the sauce? Thank you for the amazing recipes!
Hi Ann,
Yes you are right. Hope you get to try
Dear Swasthi,
Loved this gobi manchurian! Made it last night and my family loved it. Didn’t have some of the ingredients still it was delish. I used sri racha because that’s what I had and we are impressed. Thank you for the amazing work
Happy to read that Alaka. Thank you so much
I tried this for a small party. Everyone loved it. Thanks !
So glad Shreedevi. Thank you
Hi Swasthi
Kindly share names some good brands of the sauces you use in this recipe.
Love your recipes.
Hi Reena,
Thank you. For this recipe I prefer to use chili sauce and tomato ketchup from Maggi. I have tried a lot of other brands and don’t think anything else comes close to the taste of maggi, especially if you want the same Indian taste. For soya sauce currently I am using organic Tamari from health paradise. Natures glory and simply natural are also good. I just don’t remember more brands I have used because I keep changing as the same brands are not easily available. Hope this helps.
Is the Chili sauce in a glass bottle (like Heinz ?, we don’t get Maggi in Canada) or is it Chili sauce like you find in an asian store? Thank you
Yes it comes in a glass bottle. It is sweet, sour and hot red chili sauce. Any Asian sauce that tastes slightly sweet,sour and hot is alright to use unless you are trying to replicate the exact taste of Gobi manchurian you get in India. Hope this helps
Great recipe! My family loves this. I boil dry olive oil and air fry it. That works great too!
Glad your family loves it Holly. Thank you
I was wondering about using my air fryer, how long do you cool for and do you just brush with oil? Thank you
I started following Swathi’s recipes two years ago, and they’ve been incredibly helpful in perfecting my cooking skills. I truly appreciate all the delicious flavors they bring. Thank you so much!
So happy to read that Uthpala. You are welcome and thanks for sharing back
I love it and your explanation is much better than others. Thanks
A trip to India introduced me to gobi manchurian. This turned out exactly like what I ate there. Thank you. I will be trying out more recipes from your website
I just made this. Did not add any extra sugar. I kept it kind of mild for a friend. Pretty delish. First attemp.
Thank you so much Ryver. Glad it came out good
I absolutely love this recipe! Even my husband, who hates cauliflower, loves this!
That’s nice to know Jen. Thank you for sharing back
Can you make this totally without maida – using only corn flour .? Will that make it gluten free
Hi Pamela,
Try with jowar flour (sorghum flour) in place of maida for gluten-free option. Using only corn flour peels off the coating while and after frying or after adding to the sauce. Hope this helps
I used potato starch instead of corn flour since I didn’t have any corn flour. It turned out yummy, I thought!
Made a triple batch of this and it’s all gone in no time. We also made your palak paneer with tofu and it was a thumbs up from my guests. Thank you Swasthi! Your recipes are amazing!