Gobi Manchurian- Yes please…When I get a chance to make your favorite snack with less oil I take it 🙂
I got my Air fryer recently… Yes, I jumped into the air fryer wagon too …The first thing I wanted to make was something with cauliflower because cauliflower is very forgiving ( unless its burnt lol ) and what better than Gobi Manchurian with cauliflower. The dish turned out pretty good and one cannot tell the difference, well it does have less oil but other than that it is pretty close the regular gobi Manchurian.
Air fryer has now become my go to for any kind of vegetable roasting like broccoli, Brussel sprouts and obviously cauliflower. It is also very good for reheating frozen samosa, cutlets and such. I recently used my Air fryer in broil mode to broil my Baingan bhratha… Still exploring things to do with my Air fryer. Now back to recipe….
This Cauliflower Manchurian is full of flavors with abundance of tomatoes sauce adding the tang and sweet flavors and soy sauce bringing out the umami flavors, making it a perfect snack or a side.
The quality of the soy sauce plays a big role in how the dish tastes. I read that, dark soy sauce is thicker and darker in color than light soy sauce, with a more full-bodied flavor. This developers when aged for a longer period of time and by adding molasses or caramel and a bit of cornstarch. The darker the soy sauce the better it tastes and you can achieve a much deeper color. I also feel the dark sauce has a slight bitterness to it if added too much. So I have used both dark and light soy sauce in this recipe. Also a good vinegar makes or breaks the dish. It is important to add good quality vinegar.
The dish is typically garnished with spring onions to bring that mild onion flavor without overpowering the dish. Since I did not have spring onions i used regular onions on the side here. I paired it with methi parathas and a tadka dal as well and it made a perfect weekend lunch.
Less greasy, full of flavors this is a must try recipe if you have an air fryer. Even if you don’t bake the gobi/ cauliflower in the oven for 15-20 minutes and follow the same process for the gravy. I have baked it in oven in the past and that works fine too.
Air fryer Gobi Manchurian
Equipment
- Air Fryer – I used Instant pot Air fryer lid
Ingredients
- 1 large head of Cauliflower Cut to florets
- 1 large capsicum any color
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup corn flour
- 2 tbs paprika
- 2 tbs spicy hot chilli sauce I used Schezwan chilli sauce
- 1 tbs Ginger garlic paste
- 3/4 cup Tomato sauce
- 4 tbs soy sauce mix of dark and light
- 2 tbs rice vinegar
- 1-2 spring onions for garnish Optional
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower in to big florets.
- Add the all purpose flour, corn flour, paprika and salt to the cut florets and coat the florets well with the mix. The flour should coat all the florets.
- Sprinkle some water so the flour sticks to all the florets evenlyif needed
- Let it sit for 5-10 mins.
- Heat up the Air fryer in Air fryer mode ( mine was set to 400 degree )
- Air fry the cauliflower florets in 2- 3 batches upto to 20 minutes or until crisp in batches.
For Sauce
- Heat a little oil in the deep pan and add ginger garlic paste and cut shallots
- Now add in the cut capsicum and give it a quick fry for 2 mins.
- When fried add in the chilli sauce, tomato paste, soy sauce and rice vinegar to it and cook it for 2 mins.
- Ensure the sauce is not too thick. Add water as needed.
- Add the fried cauliflower florets to the sauce and toss well. Make sure to coat every bit.
- Sprinkle spring onion greens on it.
Notes
- To make the dish keto friendly simply replace the corn flour and all purpose flour with almond flour and little egg ( I have not tried this myself)
Tried this recipe? Drop a word to let me know how you liked it. You can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more such recipes and food photography.
yum!