Vegetable Manchurian

Ingredients:

For the Manchurian balls

• Bottle gourd – 1/2 grated and all water squeezed out (keep the water, it can be used in the gravy)
• Carrot – 1 grated
• Potato – 1 large grated
• All purpose flour / Maida / rice flour – 2 tsp
• Corn flour – 1 tbsp
• Green chillies – 3 nos (paste)
• Red chilies – 2 nos (ground to paste with a 1tsp water and 1tsp oil)
• Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
• Ginger – 2″ (paste)
• Garlic – 4 pods (paste)
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

For the Manchurian sauce

• Spring onions – 1 bunch (finely chopped- separate the onions from the green part)
• Garlic – 4 pods (finely chopped)
• Onion – 1 diced
• Capsicum – 1 diced
• Soya sauce – 1 & 1/2 tbsp
• Hot and sweet Tomato Sauce – 1 & 1/2 tbsp
• Corn flour – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

Manchurian balls:

1. Grate the bottle gourd and add some salt and let it stand for 10 – 15 min. Squeeze out the water and keep the water aside.
2. Mix the grated carrot and potato with the squeezed bottle gourd in a bowl.
3. Make a paste of the chillies, garlic and ginger and add to the bowl containing the above mixture.
4. Add the cornflour, flour, pepper, salt (according to taste) and pepper. *Note that since all the water cannot be squeezed out of bottle gourd, there should be no need to add additional water.
5. Make small balls.
6. Heat a pan of oil and deep fry these manchurian balls in medium flame. Cook on both sides and drain to a kitchen towel and allow them to cool. *Note: If the balls are crumbling while frying, then before frying the balls, dip them into cornflour paste (1 tsp cornflour and 3 spoons of water).
7. In another bowl add  the chilly paste (red chilies ground with water and oil) and add the fried manchurian balls to it. Carefully toss the balls so that the chilly paste is equally distributed.

Manchurian sauce:

1. Heat a non stick pan with 1 tsp oil.
2. Add the finely chopped onions from the spring onions, then add finely chopped garlic. Sauté till the onion bulbs turn colour.
3. Add the diced onion and capsicum. Sauté till the capsicum is half cooked.
4. Add the 1 tbsp of a mixture of ginger, garlic and chilly paste.
5. Add the soya sauce followed by the hot and sweet tomato sauce. Allow it to cook for two minutes in medium flame.
6. Once it is cooked add the cornflour mix (In a small bowl mix the cornflour with little water to form a batter without lumps).
7. Add the bottle gourd water and additional water as desired.
8. Allow the sauce to thicken on high flame. Do not make the sauce too thick.
9. Add the Manchurian balls to the sauce. (if you want the Manchurian balls to be crispy, add them to the sauce just before you serve them.)
10. Add the finely chopped green part of the spring onions, and allow it to cook for a minute.