Gobi Manchurian (Cauliflower Manchurian) is a very popular Indo-Chinese recipe made by coating crispy cauliflower bites with sweet, tangy, and spicy Chinese-style sauce. It can be made dry and served as an appetizer or made with gravy and served along with rice or noodles as the main course.

Here are a few more delicious Indo-Chinese recipes, that you will definitely love. Make them for your weekend dinner or house parties – Indo Chinese Veg Manchurian, Schezwan Egg Fried Rice, Chilli Paneer, Soya Chunks Manchurian, Chilli Garlic Noodles, and Egg Fried Rice.

About This Recipe

Gobi Manchurian or Cauliflower Manchuria is a popular dish from Indo-Chinese cuisine (Chinese-inspired Indian). You will find street carts to fancy restaurants having it on their menu. It can be made dry and served as an appetizer or made with gravy and served along with fried rice or garlic noodles as the main course. You can also make a version in between dry and gravy, semi-dry.

To make Gobi Manchurian, cauliflower bites are coated with a flour batter and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. They are then coated with a sweet, spicy, and tangy Manchurian sauce made using soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, etc.

This is a great appetizer to serve for house parties, family get-togethers, or as a side dish for your weekend Indo-Chinese meals. The best part is that it is very simple and quick to make and uses simple pantry ingredients.

Gobi Manchurian Ingredients

You will need 2 sets of ingredients to make Gobi Manchurian

1. To make the batter
2. To make the sauce

For the batter – Cauliflower florets are dipped in a batter made using all-purpose flour, cornstarch, ginger garlic paste, salt, chili sauce, soy sauce, and pepper powder and then deep fried in vegetable oil until crispy.

All purpose flour and cornstarch coating makes the florets super crispy.

For the sauce – You will need fresh ginger, garlic, onion, green chili peppers, and green bell pepper (capsicum). Sauces like soy sauce, red chili paste, red chili sauce, ketchup, and vinegar are added for a Chinese flavor.

You can make Asian Red Chili Paste at home using my easy recipe. Adjust the green chili peppers according to your taste.

How to make Gobi Manchurian?

Making Manchurian Sauce

To make the manchurian sauce, heat 2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wide skillet or a wok over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger and 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic and saute them for 4-5 seconds.

Add 2 teaspoon chopped green chili peppers and ½ cup cubed onion and saute for 30-40 seconds.

Add ½ cup cubed green bell pepper (capsicum) and fry for another 30-40 seconds.

Now add 2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon red chili paste, 2 teaspoon red chili sauce, 1 teaspoon green chili sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, salt to taste, and ½ teaspoon ground pepper to the skillet and mix well. Keep aside and prepare the cauliflower.

Preparing Cauliflower for Gobi Manchurian

Choose a firm medium size cauliflower head (250 g) and cut it into bite-sized florets. Do not cut too small otherwise, they will break while frying. Heat 4-5 cups of water in a pot over high heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add the florets and cook for 2 minutes.

Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. Drain well and spread them on a kitchen cloth for 10 minutes to get rid of any extra moisture. This step will make sure they turn out perfectly crispy after frying.

To make the batter, combine 6 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 4 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon red chili sauce, ½ teaspoon soy sauce, ½ teaspoon ground pepper, and ½ cup water in a large bowl. Whisk well to make a smooth lump-free batter.

The consistency of the batter should be smooth, free-flowing, and thick enough to coat the florets nicely. It should neither be too thick nor too runny.

Add the blanched cauliflower to the bowl and coat then well with the batter.

Crispy Fried Gobi:

Once the florets are coated with the flour batter, we will fry them in oil twice. This double frying method ensures super crispy cauliflower.

Heat 4-5 cups of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the florets one by one to the hot oil and fry on medium heat until lightly browned. Drain on a plate. Fry the florets in batches, do not overcrowd the pan while frying.

Once all the florets are fried, increase the heat to high and heat the oil very well. Now drop a few florets and fry them on high heat until they are nicely browned and crispy. Drain them on a plate lined with a paper towel.

Air Fryer Gobi:

Line the basket of the air fryer with perforated parchment paper. Dip the florets in the flour batter and line them on the tray in a single layer. Spray them with little oil.

Air fry in a preheated air fryer at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Turn them over and air fry for another 10 minutes or until they are browned.

Tossing the Cauliflower with the Sauce

Heat the sauce until hot on high heat. Once hot, add the fried cauliflower florets and toss well to coat the florets with the sauce. Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Note – To make Gobi Manchurian gravy, stir together 4 tablespoon cornstarch with 1-½ cups of water. Add the slurry to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Then add the cauliflower florets and mix well.

Pro Tips by Neha

Make sure to prep the ingredients before starting to cook the recipe. There is a lot of chopping and prepping needed. Since we saute the veggies on high heat for a lesser amount of time, it’s good to have everything prepped and ready to use.

Have the sauce ready before you fry the cauliflower. Fry the cauliflower until crispy just before serving and toss them immediately with the ready sauce and serve. You can blanch the cauliflower first. Then while they are drying, make the sauce.

The consistency of the batter is important to make crispy Gobi Manchurian. It should neither be too thick nor too runny, just enough to coat the florets well.

Fry the cauliflower in batches. I fried this amount in 3 batches. If the pan is overcrowded while frying, it will steam instead of frying and will become soggy.

You can increase or decrease the amount of chili according to your taste.

Toss the florets in the sauce just when you are ready to serve, otherwise, they will become soft or soggy.

You can also adjust the quantity of sauces according to your taste. Add more or less as you like.

In the restaurants, they add Ajinomoto (monosodium glutamate, MSG) for that umami flavor. If you are OK with using it, add a teaspoon to the sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

Gobi Manchurian can be served as a snack or appetizer on its own. You can wrap it inside a flour tortilla along with lettuce and onion and serve as a wrap too.

Make a gravy version and serve it with vegetable fried rice, Hakka noodles or garlic noodles.

If you want to serve this for a party, fry the gobi once, drain and set it aside for 3-4 hours. Make the sauce and set it aside for 3-4 hours. Once ready to serve, heat oil until very hot and fry the gobi on high heat once again until crisp. Heat the sauce again. Then toss them together and serve immediately.

Storage Suggestions

Gobi Manchurian tastes best right out of the wok. But if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for 2-3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a microwave and serve. The gobi will not be crispy though.

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