Low Fat Soya Manchurian

Soya Manchurian


I am a big fan of Manchurian. Few years back, when my brother and I were still single and with our parents, we used to eat out almost every weekends and one of my favourites at a hotel called Palmgrove was Gobi Manchurian (gobi is cauliflower). I am pretty sure Manchurian is not an Indian dish and is probably a hybrid, an Indo-Chinese dish. The main problem with this dish is that it is deep fried and I do not like to deep fry. As always, my oven comes in handy. I tried this one afternoon when I knew my husband will come back very hungry. I was keeping my fingers crossed because normally, he does not like Manchurian and that too because it is not deep fried it may well be a bit wiered and I have to disguise it quite well. But in the end, I think I presented it quite well and also did not tell him what it was until he started enjoying it. Needless, to say that is a superhit. I used soya chunks mainly because I have had them for a while and wanted to finish them and also because it is a good source of protein. Here is how I did it

2 handful soya chunks
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (maida)
1 tablespoon corn flour
Few pinches chilly powder
2-3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2-3 tablespoons soya sauce
1 inch piece ginger, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (optional)
1 green pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
Salt to taste

Rinse the soya chunks and soak in hot water for about 15 minutes. Squeeze out the water and leave on tea towel to dry a little bit.

Combine cornflour, all purpose flour, chilly powder and salt and make a paste which is not too thick or runny. It needs to be able to coat the soya chunks well.

Dunk the soya chunks in this paste and coat it uniformly

Place this in a greased baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 180degC and keep moving the chunks every 10 minutes to ensure uniform cooking.

You could roast the pepper and onion along with the soya chunks for about 15 minutes. Alternately, sauté the onions in pepper with little oil in a saucepan.

In a saucepan, combine the cooked soya chunks, roasted vegetables, ginger and cook for couple of minutes. Now add tomato ketchup and soya sauce and do not keep long on the stove.

 Serve hot!

It is very nice if the ginger is not overcooked as the fresh flavours from ginger augment the taste. You could add the garlics along with the vegetables or fry it separately. It helps to keep the pepper and onions crunchy and not overcooked either. I do not like to use food colour so I used pinches of chilly powder in the Manchurian coating. You could use food colour if you like.

Bhaji for Pav Bhaji

Bhaji for Pav Bhaji

For a while now, I have been meaning to make Pav Bhaji. I even bought a box of pav bhaji masala from an Asian store. Somehow, I never got to it. Then I got a nudge from Sanjay Thumma’s post on bhaji. I realised that bhaji is a traditional dish that does not seem to have many ways of doing and it is basically bringing together the vegetables to the right consistency and flavour. Hence, this time I wasn’t really hunting for anything unique or novel but just wanted my bhaji to taste as authentic as possible. I did not get to make the pav this time, but some othe time may be. For those of you who have not heard of this dish, it is a popular Indian dish especially good at wee shops that too roadside shops usually. It consists of white roll, pav and the bhaji is minced vegetables made into a thick spicy gravy. Here is how I did it…

2-3 cups well cooked mixed vegetables (like carrots, peas, beans, cauliflower, broccoli, green pepper, peas and do not forget potatoes)
4-5 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 big red onion, finely chopped
1-2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon green chilly paste (you could skip this and use only chilly powder)
1 teaspoon corainder powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Turmeric powder
2 teaspoons pav bhaji masala (if you do not have any, use garam masala)
Cooking Oil
1 generous teaspoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Lime wedges and chopped coriander while serving

Heat some oil and add the cumin seeds, once it crackles, add onions and fry until it turns pink

Add the tomatoes and cook until they become pulpy and well cooked, add little water to encourage the cooking

Add turmeric powder, coriander and cumin powder, pav bhaji masala and kasoori methi. Mix and boil for couple of minutes.

Add the mixed vegetables and mash well using a potato masher.

Add required salt and if needed some oil and water and cook for about 10 minutes. Ensure the vegetables do not stick to the pan and if needed keep adding little water.

Once it all comes together as a thick gravy, take off the flame. Squeeze some lime before serving and garnish with some coriander leaves.


Serve with toasted white rolls (pav) and enjoy!

 

Low Fat Dum Aloo

Low Fat Dum Aloo

During one of my routine weekly shoppings I noticed that we get what are called miniature baby potatoes. These are the size of the baby potatoes we used to get in India. Strangely, the ‘baby potatoes’ we used to get normally was the size of an average potato in India. I used to wonder if baby here meant toddler. Anyway, now that I get the real small potatoes, first thing I thought I should do was Dum Aloo. I also had a book by Tarla Dalal that had the recipe for this awesome dish. The moment I saw deep fry in it I was a bit disappointed. I then wanted to adapt that recipe to reduce fat and as always baking came in handy. So, that’s the story about the origin of this recipe in my kitchen. I really loved the outcome and I had made it so hot, I loved it. I have reduced the number of chillies in this recipe to reduce heat, increase or decrease further based on your preference. One mistake I did was I did not prick the potatoes before roasting them. I would do it the next time or else they seem a bit funny when you bite into them. Here is the adapted version...

For the potatoes:
15-20 baby potatoes
2 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 teaspoon dhania powder (coriander powder)
1 teaspoon jeera powder (cumin powder)
1 teaspoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder

For gravy:
2 cups chopped tomatoes
3 dry red chillies
4-5 cashew nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chopped ginger

Pierce each potato using a fork and combine all ingredients mentioned for potatoes. Marinade for about 10-15 minutes. (just washing the potatoes is enough, the skin will help keep it crispy)

Bake the potatoes on foiled baking tray at 220degC for about 20-30 minutes and keep moving them every ten minutes. Once done, try to resist temptation to eat them straight away.

While potatoes are baking, combine all ingredients mentioned for gravy in a saucepan. Cook in 2 cups water until well done. Cool and blend until smooth and bring back to saucepan, add salt.

Add the potatoes simmer for about 10 minutes, add water if needed.

Serve with a nice Indian bread or pulav.