Crispy gobi manchurian is a tasty Indian-Chinese dish. It is a combination of crispy cauliflower florets tossed in a delightfully sweet and savory sauce. When you make this for your family, they will love the flavors so much they will beg you to make this on repeat! And you will love serving them so many healthy veggies.

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What is Gobi Manchurian
Why you will love this Gobi Manchurian
Ingredients you’ll need
Preparing the cauliflower and sauce
Tips to make best gobi manchurian
Can I use frozen cauliflower
Can I make them ahead of time
Gluten-free suggestions
Recipe variations
Serving suggestions
Why is my gobi manchurian not crispy
Storing suggestions
Let us know what you think
Crispy Gobi Manchurian Recipe

What is Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian is a delicious Chinese-Indian appetizer where you fry cauliflower and coat it with a sticky, thick sauce. The sauce and cauliflower are bursting with flavor and is slightly sweet and slightly savory. Like our Orange Cauliflower, it can be served either as an appetizer or main dish.

Why you will love this Gobi Manchurian

First, gobi manchurian is a tasty and overall healthy dish. You can feel good about feeding your family cauliflower because it is packed with nutrients and fiber.

Our dish uses a combination of cauliflower and red and green peppers. Plus, the peppers add some additional flavor and nutrients.

When you serve the gobi manchurian, you can serve it with your favorite rice and noodle recipes. Serving it over rice or noodles can make it very filling. But if you want, you can serve it as an appetizer or snack for your family or friends.

Ingredients you’ll need

You’ll need ingredients for the gobi itself, the slurry, and the sauce.

First, for the manchurian, you’ll need:

Cauliflower head - You can get it whole and chop it or you may be able to find fresh florets that are already cut.
Red and green pepper
Spring onions - You can save some for garnishment too.
Fresh herbs and spices - You’ll need fresh coriander, garlic, ginger, and green chillies.
Corn flour
Oil

Then, for the slurry, you’ll need:

All purpose flour - You can use maida if you like.
Corn flour
Ginger-garlic paste
Spices - You’ll need black pepper, red chili powder or degi mirch, and salt.
Water

Next, for the sauce, you’ll need:

Soy sauce or tamari
Ketchup
Chili sauce
Sugar
Cornstarch
Water

Preparing the cauliflower and sauce

Below, we explain three cooking methods to make crispy gobi. But before you can cook it, you need to prepare the cauliflower, slurry, and sauce so they are ready to cook.

To start, mix all the slurry ingredients in a large bowl. It should form a thick slurry or batter to coat the florets.

Next, mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl and keep aside.

Steam the cauliflower

Once the slurry and sauce are ready, wash and cut the cauliflower into 1 to 2 inch florets.

Then add a cup of water into the Instant Pot’s inner pot.

Next, place a trivet into the inner pot, place the florets into a steamer basket, and place the basket on the trivet.

When the basket is in place, close the lid, set the vent to sealing, and pressure cook for 0 minutes. The time it takes to build up pressure is enough to steam the florets.

Finally, do a quick release of the pressure.

Coating the cauliflower

In another mixing bowl, add the steamed cauliflower florets and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of corn flour on it. Be gentle with the florets to avoid breaking them.

Next, coat the florets in the slurry. To do this, gently toss the corn flour coated florets into the bowl containing the slurry and use a spoon or tongs to gently coat them.

Air fryer gobi manchurian

To make gobi in the air fryer or using and Air Fryer lid with an Instant Pot, first line the air fryer basket with parchment paper and arrange the battered florets in a single layer. Leave a little bit of space between the florets.

Then, air fry them for 12 minutes at 375 F / 190 C.

Baked gobi manchurian

To bake the gobi, start by preheating the oven at 400 F / 204 C.

Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the battered cauliflower on the sheet. As you place them, allow the excess batter to drip into the bowl before placing the florets onto the sheet.

Finally, bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

Bringing it all together

Finally, when the cauliflower is either baked or air fried, heat the oil, ginger, garlic, green chilies, spring onions, and colored peppers in a wok or large skillet. Then stir fry the veggies for a few minutes or until the veggies start to get a bit soft.

Next, add the sauce and continuously stir making sure there are no lumps in the sauce.

Finally, add the baked or air fried florets into the skillet and coat them with the sauce. To serve, sprinkle the green onions over top.

Tips to make best gobi manchurian

When you are ready to make great tasting gobi manchurian, you should follow these tips:

Do not over crowd the air fryer and cook in two batches if needed.
Make sure the oven is preheated before adding the florets so they are more likely to crisp up a bit.
Only add the cooked florets to the veggies and sauce at the very end so they can get coated in the sauce and warm back up just a bit.

Can I use frozen cauliflower

No, frozen cauliflower is not a good idea for this recipe. Freezing the cauliflower causes it to become soft and have a more rubbery texture that does not work well in this recipe.

Can I make them ahead of time

Yes, you can make these ahead of time. When you do this, store the cooled florets separately from the sauce. Once you are ready to serve, you can crisp the florets up nicely in the air fryer before serving.

Gluten-free suggestions

If you want to serve this gluten free, you can try either using a gluten free all purpose flour or cornstarch to coat the florets and thicken the sauce. However, be aware you may need to adjust the amounts you use. Also, be sure to replace soy sauce with tamari

Recipe variations

You can alter this recipe if you like. We often like serving this with a lot of sauce, so we often double the sauce ingredients to make a double batch.

You can make this gluten free by substituting with gluten free flour, cornstarch, or a combination of these and also substituting tamari for soy sauce.

Serving suggestions

You can serve the gobi machurian with rice or noodles. Some of our favorite recipes to serve with this one include:

Why is my gobi manchurian not crispy

When making gobi manchurian, you need to make sure the oven or air fryer is preheated so the florets start cooking as soon as you put them in the oven or fryer.

In both cases, avoid overcrowding them. Leaving some space between the florets allows them to get crispier.

Storing suggestions

If you make this ahead, don’t add the cauliflower to sauce before storing.

When storing leftovers, try to separate the gobi Manchurian from any rice or noodles you served with it and store them separately.

To store, place the gobi in an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, you can either microwave until it is warmed through or reheat in your wok or air fryer.

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Let us know what you think

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Crispy Gobi Manchurian Recipe

Name: Crispy Gobi Manchurian Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: Spring onions, 1 tablespoon chopped; soy sauce or tamari 2 tbsp; ketchup 1 tbsp; chili sauce 1 tbsp; sugar 1 tbsp; cornstarch 1 tbsp; Water 100 ml; All purpose flour / maida ¼ cup; Corn starch ¼ cup; ginger garlic paste 1 tsp; black pepper powder ½ tsp; red chili powder / degi mirch ½ tsp; salt 1 tsp; water 1/3 cup; Cauliflower head (medium sized), cut into1 to 2 inch florets; Red and green pepper, cut into ½ inch cubes 1/2 cup; Sping onions, chopped ¼ cup; Fresh coriander, ¼ cup; Garlic 2 tablespoon finely chopped; Ginger 1 teaspoon , finely chopped; Green chillies 2 (optional); Corn flour – 2 tbsp; Oil 1 tbsp