Baby Corn Manchurian
Nov 07, 2014, Updated Nov 28, 2024
Popular Indo Chinese Dish, Baby Corn Manchurian is great with fried rice and noodles. [Vegan]
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The Indian version of Chinese is so popular in India that over the years people have safely assumed that this is how Chinese food is supposed to taste and look. I can say this with confidence that no Indian will relish authentic Chinese food, it’s just too bland for our taste.The Indian Chinese cuisine or Indo Chinese like it is popularly known is said to have been developed by a small Chinese community living in the city of Kolkatta in eastern India. Today the cuisine is immensely popular all across the country.
You would often see these food trucks serving noodles and manchurian in big cities and towns. Now what does the term “Manchurian” mean here. Actually I have never seen this word on menus here but back home manchurian=chinese. Basically anything which has soy sauce, chili sauce added to it is termed manchurian. There are dry manchurians or manchurians with gravy/curry.
The Indian version of Chinese has lots and lots of vegetarian options. There are dishes like chili paneer, cauliflower manchurian, vegetable manchurian etc etc. One of the popular Indo Chinese starters is Chili Baby Corn. What I am sharing today is a gravy version which you can enjoy with noodles or fried rice. This recipe is Vegan.
For this recipe I used canned Baby Corn Pieces , you can use fresh baby corn too, just make sure to cut them into small pieces. The ones in the can were already cut as you can see in the pictures. Also if using fresh baby corn, you might want to boil them for few minutes till they become little soft.
Method
Chop and prepare everything before you start making the manchurian. You will not have time to chop anything in between since everything is cooked pretty fast on high heat. So do the prep work before. The green chili is missing from the pictures, chop that too and mince your garlic and grate your ginger before you begin!
In a bowl whisk together all ingredients listed under “for the batter to dip baby corn” – all purpose flour, cornstarch, salt & pepper [you can also add little red chili powder here for extra spice]. Add 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of water to form a thick paste. Dip the baby corn pieces into the batter.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a nonstick pan. Toast the dipped baby corn pieces. Please note that you can also deep fry the baby corn here, that is what is done in restaurants, I toasted them just because I didn’t feel like deep frying.
Toast till the baby corn is light golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
In a wok heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the minced garlic, grated ginger and chopped green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Increase the heat to high and add the chopped onion and the spring onion whites. Cook for 1-2 minute.
Now add chopped green pepper and cook for a minute. The veggies should remain crunchy.
In a bowl whisk together all the ingredients listed under “for the sauce”- soy sauce, water, white vinegar and corn starch. Set aside.
To the green pepper now add tomato ketchup and mix.
Add 1.25 cups of water, sugar and lower the heat to medium.
The water will start to simmer, add the prepared sauce to the pan. Also add the white pepper powder.
Keep stirring and you will noticed the gravy will start to thicken and will also appear shiny.
Add the toasted baby corn pieces and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. Check salt and adjust to taste.
Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice or hakka noodles.
* I have not used red chili sauce here which is often used in Indo Chinese recipes. You may very well use it, I used a green chili and since I’m not a fan of very spicy food, that alone was sufficient for me.
* Always keep the heat high while making this manchurian [unless otherwise mentioned]. The veggies should remain crunchy.
* I used 1/2 green pepper [capsicum] in this recipe since the one I used was big. If using a small green pepper you can use all of it.
Baby Corn Machurian
Ingredients
- 14 oz can baby corn [this came to around 1.5 cups of baby corn pieces]
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 green chili finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ½ green pepper or capsicum finely chopped [or 1 small green pepper]
- ½ onion finely chopped
- 1 scallion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon to toast the baby corn
- salt to taste
For the sauce
- 1.5 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
For the batter to dip baby corn
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1.5-2 tablespoons water
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together all purpose flour, cornstarch, salt & pepper [you can also add little red chili powder here for extra spice]. Add 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of water to form a thick paste. Dip the baby corn pieces into the batter.
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of oil in a nonstick pan. Toast the dipped baby corn pieces.You can also deep fry the baby corn.
- Toast till the baby corn is light golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
- In a wok heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the minced garlic, grated ginger and chopped green chili. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to high and add the chopped onion and the spring onion whites. Cook for 1-2 minute.
- Now add chopped green pepper and cook for a minute. The veggies should remain crunchy.
- In a bowl whisk together all the ingredients listed under "for the sauce"- soya sauce, water, white vinegar and corn starch. Set aside.
- To the green pepper now add tomato ketchup and mix.
- Add 1.25 cups of water, sugar and lower the heat to medium.
- The water will start to simmer, add the prepared sauce to the pan. Also add the white pepper powder.
- Keep stirring and you will noticed the gravy will start to thicken and will also appear shiny.
- Add the toasted baby corn pieces and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Check salt and adjust to taste.
- Garnish with spring onion greens and serve baby corn manchurian hot with fried rice or hakka noodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you do give this a try Karishma! 🙂 Indo-Chinese is one of my favorites too!
Thank you Mira!
haha agree! Indian Chinese is nowhere close to the authentic Chinese 😛
That beautiful bowl ..I just want to take that away .. Clear step by step pics
haha thanks Priya! I love the bowl too 🙂
Aww thanks Angie, you are very sweet!
Thanks Stacey! Give it a try, it’s delicious!
Thanks Jen!
Thank you Kelly, I love Manchurian and Hakka dishes too!
Thanks Marcie, glad you liked it!
Thank you Sarah! If you love baby corn, you must give this a try!