Baby Corn Manchurian- Dry

Baby corn Manchurian is a tasty indo Chinese Sides that goes well with fried rice or noodles. I made dry version which can also be made as a starter. I paired it with paneer fried rice and it was a hit combo. Read the notes to make gravy.  I know it’s raining Indo-Chinese in this blog. But I can’t help it,my taste buds crave for the nutty flavors! For sure I ll try to give it a spin!

Ingredients:

Baby corn-1 cup, cut into 2 inch pieces

Capsicum-1, cubed

Onion-1, cubed

Garlic-5 flakes, finely chopped

Scallions/Spring onions- To garnish

Soy sauce-1 tsp

Red chili sauce-1 tsp

Pepper powder-1 tsp

Salt-as needed

Ajinomoto-1/4 tsp (optional)

Oil- for deep frying

For Batter:

All-Purpose Flour/maida-1 tbsp

Cornflour-1 tbsp

Red chili powder-1/4 tsp

Pepper powder-1/4 tsp

Baking soda- 1 pinch

Salt-as needed

Water - as needed

How It Happened:

1. Heat a liter of water in a sauce pan and when it starts boiling, add the chopped Babycorn and blanch it for 2-5 minutes. Remove them from hot water, run through cold water to stop cooking further, drain the water completely and set aside.

2. In a bowl, add all the ingredients given under the ‘for batter’ list except water. Mix well then add water little by little to make a smooth batter. Add in the Babycorn pieces and let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a pan, and when it’s medium hot, add 2 or 3 pieces of Babycorn and fry until they turn golden brown. Remove from oil, and drain in a kitchen tissue. Similarly fry all baby corn pieces and set aside.

4. In another pan, heat a tsp of oil add chopped garlic, when they turn translucent, add the cubed onions and capsicum and fry until they are half cooked.

5. Add in soy sauce, chili sauce, pepper powder and salt and mix well.

6. Slide in the fried Baby corn pieces and toss in well to coat the sauces well on the baby corn.

7. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot immediately.

Notes:

* I didn’t blanch the Babycorn in hot water as we like extra crunch and almost half cooked Babycorn. Also our baby corn was too tender by itself. Take care not to overcook while boiling. They should retain the crunch

* The batter shouldn’t be too thick else will not get cooked in the inside and will be too cakey while eating. If the batter is too thin, they will absorb a lot of oil while frying and will be soggy once when its removed from oil.

* Baking soda is added to maintain the crunch for a little long time. But you can skip it.

* Need not cook the baby corn until the oil stops bubbling completely, as the baby corn is already cooked. So when they just turn golden brown you can remove from oil.

* Don’t overcrowd the oil. Add in 2-3 pieces at a time while frying else the oil will lose the temperature and the cooking will be even.

* Once when tossed with the sauce, serve immediately else the baby corn will lose the crunch.

 * If you want to make gravy, mix a tbsp of corn flour with ½ cup of water and mix without any lumps. Add this to the sauce before adding the baby corn pieces. Cook in simmer and when the mixture slightly thickens and changes color to dark, add in the baby corn pieces, stir once, Switch off the flame, top with scallions and serve hot. Do not cook for long after the sauce has become dark else it will become a sticky doughy mass!