Gobi Manchurian (Dry)

Yesterday, I invited some of my friend for dinner and you guess what I made for starter? It's my favourite Gobi Manchurian. We met after so many years and we all enjoyed a lot. While we were talking about some coupon sites and their deals, one of my friends said, she found Cuponation offers latest and most lucrative deals from leading brands and retailers. I checked the site and was really surprised to see the vast collection of active coupons. I liked their home and living coupons. Now, to the recipe...

Ingredients :

1. Cauliflower  - 1  Medium Sized (Cut into bite sized Florets)

2. Gram Flour (Besan) (or) All Purpose Flour - 1/2 Cup

3. Corn Flour  - 1/2 Cup

4. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

5. Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp

6. Soya sauce: 1 tsp for Flour Paste,

7. Oil  - For Frying

8. Salt - Need Quantity

For the Sauce,

1. Soya Sauce - 1 tbs

2. Tomato Ketchup - 1 tbs

3. Corn Flour - 2 tsp (Dissolve in 1 tbs of water and keep aside)

4. Onion - 1/2 Cup (Finely Chopped)

6. Garlic - 1 tsp (Cloves Finely Chopped)

7. Green Chilly - 1 (Chopped Finely)

For Garnishing 

1. Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1/2 tbs

2. Spring Onions - 1/4 Cup

Procedure :

1. Wash Cauliflower florets with warm water.

2. Boil water with salt in a vessel. Switch off and then put cauliflower florets. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Now, drain water.

3. Combine Gram Flour (or) All Purpose Flour, Corn Flour, Ginger Garlic Paste, Chilli Paste, Soya Sauce and Salt. Add a little water and make batter. The batter should neither too thick nor too runny.

4. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan.

5. Now, dip Cauliflower Florets in the Batter and fry  four or five florets at a time depending on your pan / wok size till it becomes crispy.

6. Drain excess oil by placing on a clean kitchen towel.

7. Once the frying is completed, in another pan, add a little oil.

8. Fry onion, garlic and green chilly together.

9. Add soya sauce, tomato ketch up followed by corn flour mixture.

10. Put the fried Cauliflower and mix well until all the fried cauliflower pieces get coated with the sauce.

11. Serve hot, garnished with Coriander and Spring Onions.

You may be interested in :
Other Starters
Paneer Manchurian
Cauliflower Stalk Manchurian

Health Fritters

This is the recipe that I suggested for my Niece who won Young Chef Competition held in Chennai this  17th (17-5-2013). 

I used Hudson Canola Oil while I prepared these fritters at home. Hudson Canola is very healthy and I love it. This oil is the best choice for health conscious people.

But in contest, she used Gold Winner Oil as it was sponsored by them. If you are an health conscious person, you can very well cook fritters on a dosa pan with just a few drops of oil else you can bake it in oven. Either way, it tastes good.

Ingredients :

1. Wheat Bread - 2

2. Potato - 1 (Boiled and Mashed)

3. Carrot - 1 tbs (Grated)

4. Beetroot - 1 tbs (Grated)

5. Paneer - 1 tbs (Grated)

6. Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

7. Garam Masala - 2 tsp

8. Kashmiri Chilly Powder - 1 tsp

9. SathuMaavu (Any Brand) - 2 tsp

10. Oats - 2 tsp

11. Maida - 1 tsp

12. Corn Flour - 1 tsp

13. Salt - Needed Qty

14. Oil - For frying

Procedure :

1. Dip bread in water. Squeeze well.

2. Now, combine all the ingredients. Make a soft dough.

3. Divide the dough in to equal portions. Make balls and keep aside.

4. Heat oil. Now, gently flatten the prepared balls and fry on a medium heat until cooked properly.

5. Drain extra oil by placing in a clean kitchen towel. 

6. Garnish and serve hot with a ketch up.

You may be interested in :

Other Starters

Paneer Manchurian

Paneer Manchurian, an Indo-Chinese dish is a delicious starter. This recipe goes to my event "Healthy Food for Healthy Kids - Paneer Delicacies". (Friends, Do rush in your entries before Jan 10th)

Ingredients :

1. Maida (All Purpose Flour) - 2 tbs

2. Corn Flour - 2 tbs

3. Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - 2 Cups (Cubed)

4. Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

5. Oil - For Frying

6. Salt - Needed Qty

7. Water 

To Saute 

1. Oil - 1 tbs

2. Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

3. Garlic Cloves - 4 (Finely Chopped)

4. Green Chilly - 1 (Finely Chopped)

5. Onion - 1/2 Cup (Finely Chopped)

6. Capsicum - 1 Medium Sized (Chopped)

7. Soy Sauce - 1 tbs

8. Chilly Sauce - 1 tsp

9. Tomato Ketchup - 1 tbs

10. Salt - 1/2 tsp or Adjust to your taste

11. Corn Flour - 1 tsp

12. Water - 1 tbs

Procedure :

1. Combine maida, corn flour, salt and ginger- garlic paste. Add  water and make a thick batter. 

2. Heat oil in a pan.

3. Dip paneer cubes in the prepared batter. Fry paneer in batches until golden brown.

4. Drain extra oil by placing the fried paneer on a kitchen towel. Keep aside.

5. In a small bowl mix 1 tsp of corn flour and 1 tbs of water. Keep this corn flour mixture aside.

6. Now, in another pan heat 1 tbs of oil. Add onion, garlic and chilly. Saute well. 

7. Now add Ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone.

8. Add capsicum and continue to saute in medium flame for few minutes.

9. Add all the sauces and salt.

10. Add cornflour mixture and combine the contents once.

11. Add paneer and mix gently or toss once. Keep in medium flame for 2 minutes.

12. Serve hot as starter.

13. Granish with spring onion and coriander.

Baby Pumpkin Fry / Parangi Pinju Varuval / பரங்கி பிஞ்சு வறுவல்

This recipe is in my draft for long time. Somehow I forgot to post this. One of my uncles stay in Kumbakonam. When he visited us few months ago he brought us this Parangi Pinju from there. He took so much effort to bring this all the way from Kumbakonam. This shows how much loving and caring person he is. We could make so many delicious dishes with Parangi Pinju. We prepared few dishes and I will be posting them soon. 

You can serve this fry as a starter or as side to any rich variety. This tastes great with Sambar & Rasam Sadam.

Ingredients :

1. Baby Pumpkin / Parangi Pinju - 2 Cups (Thinly sliced pieces)

2. Rice Flour - 1.5 tbs

3. Corn Flour - 1 tbs

4. Red Chilly Powder - 1.5 tsp or Adjust to your taste

5. Tamarind Juice - 1 tsp (Optional)

6. Salt - Needed Qty

7. Water

8. Oil - For Deep Frying

Procedure :

1. Combine rice flour, corn flour, red chilly powder, tamarind juice and salt together. Add water and make a thick batter.

2. Now, add the peeled and thinly sliced baby pumpkin to the thick batter. Combine well so that the batter coats the baby pumpkin pieces.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan. Deep fry in batches.

4. Serve as starter or with any rice.

Who tried this recipe?
1. Sharanya

Crispy Cauliflower Fry

For any party, this fry is a best choice for starter. This can also be served as tea time snack or served with any rice variety. 

Ingredients :

1. Cauliflower - 1 (Medium Sized)

2. Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

3. Garam Masala - 1 tsp

4. Mango Powder - 1/2 tsp

5. Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

6. Red Chilly Powder - 1.5 tsp

7. Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

8. Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

9. Corn Flour - 1 tbs

10. Rice Flour - 1 tbs

11. Salt - Needed Qty

12. Oil - For Deep Fry

Procedure :

1. Cut cauliflower florets in to bite sized pieces. Clean and wash the florets.

2. Put the cut florets in hot water for few minutes and then drain water.

3. Now combine all the other ingredients except oil. Sprinkle just a little water while combining the ingredients. 

4. Keep aside for 15 minutes.

5. Heat oil and deep fry the cauliflower till crisp.

6. Serve hot.

Serving Suggestion :

Serve with a ketch-up as starter or evening snack.

This goes to Sowje's "Clearly Fresh Giveaway" Event.

Tawa Fried Paneer

This is a delicious starter. This recipe is different from my "Crispy Paneer Fry".

Ingredients :

1. Paneer Cubes - 8 Pieces

2. Oil - 1/2 tbs

For Spice Paste

1. Mint Leaves - 6 or few more

2. Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

3. Sour Curd - 1 tsp

4. Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

5. Green Chilly - 1

6. Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp

7. Garam Masala - 1 tsp

8. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

9. Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

10. Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

11. Salt - Needed Qty

Grind all the ingredients. Keep this spice paste aside.

Procedure :

1. Cube paneer in to large pieces.

2. Add the spice paste to the cubed paneer and mix well.

3. Keep it as such for 30 minutes.

4. Arrange marinated paneer pieces in a tawa.

5. Pour oil around each pieces.

6. Let the paneer fry on medium flame for few minutes.

7. Turn to other side and let paneer fry till crisp.

8. Remove from Tawa and place it on a kitchen towel to absorb oil.

9. Serve hot with a piece of lemon and onion.

This goes to Nayna's "Let's cook for Barbeques and Picnics", Radhika's Let's Cook - Kids Special, Shama's Street Party, an event started by Jagruti and Divya's "The Master Chef Contest"