A Manchurian is one of the most popular Indo-Chinese dishes in India. Manchurian Gravy pairs equally good with a simple noodle dish or even a flavorful fried rice. This post has the recipe of a Veg Manchurian Gravy, which is simply crispy fried mixed vegetable balls in a sweet, spicy, tangy, umami manchurian gravy or sauce. Try it, as I’m sure once you make it at home, you’ll forget the ones served at restaurants.
About Manchurian Gravy
This Manchurian Gravy variation is the most preferred choice of dish, when you want to have something saucy, sweet, spicy and tangy with a basic Veg Fried Rice, Schezwan Fried Rice or even just the good ol’ steamed rice.
So, this Veg Manchurian Gravy basically has a spicy and sweet umami sauce, in which fried mixed vegetable balls are dunked. The sauce has a mix of eclectic flavors like sweet, savory, spicy and sour. This particular recipe is also vegan.
I love Indo-Chinese food, and so does everyone in my family too. Such has been my love for this fusion cuisine, that in my teens I would make 3 of my favorite Indo-Chinese recipes often at home – this Veg Manchurian, Chilli Paneer and Sweet Corn Soup. This list is actually quite long now!
The best part of most Indian-Chinese recipes is that, you can change the consistency as per your liking. If you want a thin consistency, add some veg broth/stock or water.
If you want a thick consistency, add a few teaspoons of cornstarch (cornflour) paste. This Manchurian Gravy thickens, after it cools down. So, when reheating, you may have to add some water.
Like all my other recipes here, this Veg Manchurian Gravy too is a tried and tested recipe. It results in a sumptuous dish that pairs just as excellently with plain steamed rice as with any other Indo-Chinese fried rice dishes.
How to make Veg Manchurian Recipe
Make Vegetable Balls
1. Take the finely chopped or grated veggies in a bowl. You will need the below listed vegetables:
- ½ cup finely chopped red cabbage
- ½ cup grated carrot
- ¼ cup finely chopped capsicum (green bell pepper)
- ¼ cup finely chopped French beans
- ¼ cup finely chopped spring onions
You can also add regular green cabbage, instead of red or purple cabbage.
2. Next, add the the following dry ingredients to the mixed vegetables
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (called cornflour in India and UK)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon salt or as required
3. Mix to bring the whole mixture together. Then, kind of mix and knead so that the veggies leave moisture and you get a dough-like mixture.
But do not knead like that a bread or roti dough. Gluten strands can form that will result in a dense, chewy texture in the fried Manchurian balls.
Thus, only mix very well and press so that the veggies release their juices.
4. Then, take a small portion of the mixture in your hands.
5. Press and roll it in your palm and make a round ball.
6. Make all vegetable balls this way and keep aside. You can spread some oil on your palms while making the vegetable balls.
Fry Vegetable Balls
7. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Add a small piece of veggie ball in 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 the balls.
In case the balls break, then some more binding agent is required. So, you can add 2 to 3 teaspoons more of all-purpose flour (maida).
8. 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 the top and uncooked from the inside. Less hot oil will make the balls absorb too much oil.
9. When cooked from one side and light golden or golden, turn the balls with a slotted spoon.
10. Fry the balls till crisp and golden, turning them over a couple of times. Remove them with a slotted or perforated spoon and drain as much oil as possible.
11. Place the fried vegetable balls on a kitchen paper towel.
For a low-fat version, you can cook the veggie balls in an appe or appam pan or Æbleskiver pan. Fry the veg balls this way in batches and set aside.
More Prep
12. In a small bowl, take the following sauces:
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce (or 1.5 teaspoons soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- 2 to 3 teaspoons of red chili sauce (note that the red chilli sauce is spicy and not sweet)
13. Mix the sauces thoroughly to an even mixture and set aside.
14. In another small bowl, take 1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour) and 2 tablespoons water. Mix very well and keep aside.
Sauté
15. Heat 1 to 1½ tablespoons oil in a pan or wok. Add the below ingredients one by one:
- 4 tablespoons chopped spring onions (scallions)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 finely chopped green chilies
- ¼ cup finely chopped capsicum (green bell pepper)
Adding capsicum is optional. You can use toasted sesame oil, sunflower oil or any neutral tasting oil.
16. Stir fry on medium heat until the onions turn translucent and are softened.
17. Now, add the prepared sauce mixture.
18. Stir and mix very well.
19. Add 1 to 1¼ cups water.
20. Let the mixture come to a boil.
21. Mix the cornstarch paste again in the bowl (as it settles at the bottom) and then add in the pan.
22. As soon as you add the cornstarch paste, mix very well so that there are no lumps.
23. Continue to stir and mix while the gravy is cooking. Simmer till the gravy thickens and you see a glaze in it. There should be no raw taste of the cornstarch in the sauce.
Cooking sauce or gravy takes about 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat. If the sauce is too thick, then add some water. If it is too thin, then add some cornstarch paste.
24. When the gravy thickens, add ½ teaspoon black pepper powder.
25. Season with a bit of salt. Keep in mind that the soy sauce, chili sauce and tomato ketchup already has salt in it. So, add less salt or as per your taste preferences.
26. Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar or more, if required. Mix very well.
Make Manchurian Gravy
27. Then, add the fried vegetable balls and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or regular vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
28. Gently stir and coat the fried vegetable balls with the gravy.
29. Turn off the heat and add chopped spring onion greens.
30. Serve Veg Manchurian Gravy hot garnished with some spring onion greens (scallion greens).
It goes well with veg fried rice or Schezwan fried rice or plain steamed rice or noodles and even bread or roti.
Expert Tips
- Vegetables: Make this manchurian with the vegetables you like. But remember that they have to be grated or finely chopped. Chopping the vegetables takes time, so use a food processor to make your work easy.
- Sauces: I have used a spicy red chilli sauce in the recipe that adds some heat and pungency. But you could even use sriracha sauce, instead of red chilli sauce.
- Flavor Adjustments: Feel free to adjust the seasonings, spices and sauces according to your taste preferences.
- Frying Vegetable Balls: Ensure to fry the vegetable balls on medium heat. If they are fried on high heat, then the outside will get cooked and the inside will be uncooked, leaving a doughy taste in the mouth. If they are fried on low heat, they will absorb oil and this will make them oily and soggy.
- Consistency of the gravy or sauce: Adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding less or more water. For a thicker sauce, you can add less water and vice versa. If the sauce looks thin, add a bit of cornstarch paste and continue to simmer, until the desired consistency is achieved.
FAQs
The main ingredients for Veg Manchurian Gravy include mixed vegetables (such as cabbage, carrots, bell peppers), all-purpose flour, cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green chilies, tomato ketchup, chili sauce, vinegar, and spring onions.
Spices and seasonings like salt, pepper, and optionally, MSG (monosodium glutamate) are also used to enhance the flavors.
Yes, Manchurian Gravy can be made healthier by baking or air-frying the vegetable balls instead of deep-frying.
Additionally, you can use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, and reduce the quantity of oil used in the gravy. Incorporating more vegetables and using low-sodium soy sauce can also make it more nutritious.
Veg Manchurian Sauce can be made vegan by ensuring all the ingredients used are plant-based.
Check the labels of sauces and other packaged ingredients to make sure they do not contain animal-derived products. Most traditional ingredients are naturally vegan, but it’s always good to verify.
There are several variations of Manchurian Gravy. Some popular ones include using different vegetables like mushrooms, adding tofu for extra protein or paneer, or incorporating different types of sauces like Schezwan sauce for a spicier kick.
You can also experiment with different seasonings and herbs to create unique flavor profiles.
More Manchurian Recipes To Try!
Indo Chinese Recipes
Vegan Recipes
Indo Chinese Recipes
Indo Chinese Recipes
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Manchurian Gravy | Veg Manchurian Gravy
Ingredients
For vegetable balls
- ½ cup carrot – grated
- ½ cup cabbage – finely chopped (red or green)
- ¼ cup green bell pepper – finely chopped (capsicum)
- ¼ cup spring onions – finely chopped (scallions)
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns – freshly crushed or black pepper powder or white pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour)
- ½ teaspoon salt or add as per taste
- oil – as required, for shallow or deep frying – sunflower oil or any neutral tasting oil
For corn starch or cornflour paste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (known as cornflour outside india)
- 2 tablespoons water
For gravy or sauce
- 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil – toasted sesame oil or sunflower oil or any neutral tasting oil
- ¼ cup spring onion whites – chopped (scallion whites) or ¼ cup finely chopped onions
- 1 tablespoon ginger – finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic – finely chopped
- 2 green chillies – finely chopped
- ¼ cup capsicum – finely chopped (green bell pepper), optional
- 1 tablespoon celery – finely chopped, optional
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- 2 to 3 teaspoons red chilli sauce (spicy and not sweet)
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or regular white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 1.25 cups water or vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or freshly crushed black pepper or ground white pepper powder
- salt to taste
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon raw sugar or white sugar, add as required
- 1 tablespoon spring onion greens (scallion greens), for garnishing
Instructions
Making vegetable balls
- Take the finely chopped or grated veggies in a bowl.
- Next add the dry ingredients – cornstarch, all-purpose flour, black pepper and salt.
- Mix and gather the whole mixture together. Then kind of mix and knead so that the veggies leave water and you get a dough-like mixture. But do not knead like that a bread or roti dough. Gluten strands can form that will give a dense chewy texture in the fried veggie balls. So just mix very well and press so that the veggies release their juices.
- Then take a small portion of the mixture in your hands.
- Press and roll it in your palm and make a round veggie ball. You can spread some oil on your palms while making the vegetable balls.
- Make all veggie balls this way and set aside.
Frying veggie balls
- Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Add a small piece of a ball to the hot oil. If the balls does not stick or settle down at the bottom of the pan, but comes up steadily the oil is ready for frying these veg manchurian balls. If the ball breaks, then some more binding agent is required. So you can add 2 to 3 teaspoons of some more all-purpose flour.
- 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 absorb too much of oil.
- When cooked from one side and light golden or golden, turn the balls with a slotted spoon.
- Fry the balls till crisp and golden turning over as needed for even cooking.
- Remove them with a slotted or perforated spoon and drain as much as oil as possible.
- Place the fried veg manchurian balls on kitchen paper towels.
- Fry the veg manchurian balls this way in batches and keep aside.
Making sauce or gravy
- In a small bowl take the following three sauces – soy sauce, tomato ketchup and red chilli sauce.
- Mix the sauces very well and set aside.
- In another small bowl take 1 tablespoon cornflour and 2 tablespoons water. Mix very well and set aside.
- Heat 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil in a pan or wok.
- Add the chopped spring onions, finely chopped ginger, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped green chilies and finely chopped capsicum.
- Stir fry on medium flame till the onions turn translucent.
- Now add the mixed sauces. Stir and mix very well.
- Add 1 to 1.25 cups water. Let the mixture come to a boil.
- Mix the cornflour paste again in the bowl (as the cornflour settles at the bottom) and then add in the pan.
- As soon as you add cornflour paste, mix very well so that there are no lumps.
- Continue to stir and mix when the veg manchurian gravy is cooking. Simmer till the sauce thickens and you see a glaze in it.
- There should be no raw taste of the cornflour in the sauce. Cooking sauce or gravy takes about 3 to 4 minutes on a medium heat. If the sauce is too thick, then you add some water. If it is too thin, then you can add some cornflour.
- When the veg manchurian sauce thickens, add ½ teaspoon black pepper powder.
- Season with a bit of salt. Do keep in mind that the soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup already has salt in it. So add less salt and as per your taste preferences.
- Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar. Mix very well.
- Then add the fried veg manchurian balls. Also add 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar or regular vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Gently stir and coat the veg manchurian balls in the gravy.
- Turn off the heat add chopped spring onion greens.
- Serve Veg Manchurian Gravy hot garnished with some spring onion greens. This Manchurian Gravy pairs well with veg fried rice, plain steamed rice and even bread or the chapati or roti.
Video
Notes
- Consistency: The best part of most Indian-Chinese recipes is you can change the consistency as per your liking. If you want a thin consistency, add some veg broth or water. If you want a thick consistency, add a few teaspoons of cornflour paste. This dish thickens after it cools down. So when reheating you may have to add some water.
- Ajinomoto (MSG): I have not added any msg to the recipe. If you want a more restaurant style effect, you can do so. But a word of caution – msg or mono sodium glutamate is not good for the health.
- Frying: Remember to fry the veg manchurian balls on medium heat. If they are fried on a high heat, then the outside will get cooked and the inside will be not cooked leaving a doughy taste in the mouth. If they are fried on a low heat, they will absorb oil and this will make them oily and soggy.
- Sugar: I like the sweet sour taste of Indo Chinese food and hence I have added raw sugar to the recipe. You can use any other sweetener like palm sugar or coconut sugar instead of sugar.
- Soy Sauce: Use naturally fermented soy sauce. The soy sauce I use does not have any sugar added to it. You may avoid this or check the ingredients list in your soy sauce if sugar is there in it or not.
- Non-fried veggie balls: For a low-fat version, you can cook the veggie balls in an appe-appam pan or æbleskiver pan. You could also try to air-fry the veggie balls in an air-fry
- Vegetable Customizations: Adding capsicum to the gravy or sauce is optional. Opt to add vegetables that you like while making the veggie balls. But do ensure that these veggies are not watery or full of juices like some gourds or zucchini.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Manchurian Gravy recipe from the archives was first published on May 2012. It has been updated and republished on June 2024.
