When Indo-Chinese cuisines arrived in India

The Indo-chinese cuisine arrived in India long before the country's whole-hearted embrace of capitalism in the 1990s brought other global cuisines and American restaurants chains knocking at its door. It is said to have originated in Calcutta in the 19th century , When chinese immigrants seeking work arrived in what was at the time the capital of British India.

Hungry for the tastes of home, the immigrants married ingredients , familiar to them--- soy sauce, vinegar , noodles , cornstarch with ingredients of their new homeland, most notably the spices, taking flavor to a whole new level in a country where flavour has always been king.

In Indian dishes , sweet , sour , bitter , salty and pungent are usually balanced to merge into a common deliciousness and richness without drawing attention to their individual selves. Not so with Indo-Chinese cuisine. You could taste the salty, the sweet, the spicy and the tangy in each dish. And they did such a happy dance on your tounge that you not only didn't mind, you wanted more and more.

Veg Manchurian is a tasty Indo-chinese dish of fried veggie balls in a spicy, sweet, and tangy sauce There are 2 popular variations of making veg Manchurian. 

Veg Manchurian Dry : 

An excellent starter snack or as a side dish with hakka noodles or chowmein.

Veg Manchurian Gravy (with sauce) :

Makes for a tasty Chinese main course . Goes best with fried rice, schezwan fried rice or steamed rice.

Making of veg Manchurian Gravy

Vegetable balls : 

Take the finely chopped veggies in a bowl. You will need ½ cup finely chopped green cabbage, ½ cup grated carrot, ¼ cup finely chopped capsicum ,  ¼ cup finely chopped french beans and  ¼ cup finely chopped spring onions.

Then add the dry ingredients 2 tablespoon corn starch , 2 tablespoon maida, ½ teaspoon black pepper and ½ teaspoon salt .

Mix and gather the whole mixture together. Then the veggies leave the water and you get a dough-like mixture

Then take a small portion of mixture in your hands . Press and roll it in your palm and make a round veggie ball.

Make all the veggie balls and keep aside. You can spread some oil on your palm while making the vegetable ball. 

Frying vegetables : 

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or a pan. Add a small piece of a ball to the hot oil. If the ball does not stick or settle down at the bottom of the pan, but comes up steadily the oil is ready for frying these veggie balls. If the ball break, then some more binding agent is required. So you can add 2 to 3 teaspoons of some more maida.

Gently place the balls in the hot oil. The oil has to be medium hot. Too much heat and the Manchurian balls will be browned from top and uncooked from inside. Less hot oil will make the balls absorbs too much oil.

When cooked from one side, turn the balls with a slotted spoon.

Fry the balls till crisp ans golden turning them over a couple of times. Remove them with a slotted or perforated spoon and drain as much as oil as possible.

 

Making the sauce :

In a small bowl take the following three sauces

 ½ tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup , 2 to 3 teaspoons of red chilli sauce. Mix the sauces very well and keep aside.

In another small bowl take 1 tablespoon corn starch and 2 tablespoon water. Mix very well and keep aside. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add 4 tablespoons chopped spring onions, 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger, 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic, 2 finely chopped green chilies and ¼ cup finely chopped capsicum.

Stir fry on medium flame till the onions turn translucent. Now add the mix sauces. Stir and mix very well. Add 1 to 1.25 cup of water . Let the mixture come to a boil.

Mix the corn flour paste again in the bowl and then add in the pan. As soon as you add corn flour paste, mix it very well so that there are no lumps.

Continue to stir and mix when the Manchurian gravy is cooking. There should be no raw taste of corn flour in the sauce. Cooking sauce or gravy takes about 3 to 4 minutes on a medium flame. If the sauce is too thick then add some water and if it is too think then you can add some corn flour. 

When the Manchurian gravy thickens , add ½ teaspoon black pepper powder. Add ½ to ¼ teaspoon sugar or more if required. Mix very well.

Then add the fried vegetable balls. Also add 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or regular vinegar. Gently stir and coat the fried vegetable balls in gravy. Switch off the flame and add the chopped spring onions. 

Serve it with the fried rice or schewan fried rice or noodles.