Vegetable manchurian. The classic Indo-Chinese manchurian is defined by lightly spiced veggie meatballs soaked in delectable Chinese style sauce. These meatballs are loaded with veggies and are baked or deep fried to golden perfection. The sauce is a lip-smacking combination of fresh aromatics with soy sauce, and red chili sauce brings a touch of heat. Sprinkle with freshly chopped spring onions for a pop of color.
Why I Love This Manchurian Dish
While you can easily whip up a plant based dish, the best aromatics, sauces and condiments spruce things up to help brighten up even the most boring meal. Seasonal veggies are an obvious way to add more greens to your diet, but even the most delicious ones can bring in a boring lineup of flavors.
Luckily, I have the perfect recipe for you featuring both Indian and Chinese flavors in one dish. Combined, these two delicious cuisines bring in the best of both worlds with Indian flavors of garlic, ginger, green chilies and red chili powder, and Chinese flavors of soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup and red chili sauce. Plus, this manchurian ticks all the boxes for an amazing street food treat that’s basically vegetable meatballs in lip-smacking sauce.
Key Ingredients In Vegetable Manchurian
- Vegetables - Cabbage, carrots and spring onion (scallions) are the classic options.
- Cornstarch (corn flour) - Acts as a binding agent of the meatballs and helps to thicken the sauce.
- Soy sauce - The key flavor of manchurian.
- Vinegar - White vinegar, to be exact.
- Ketchup (tomato sauce) - Main addition to many Indo-Chinese dishes.
How To Make Vegetable Manchurian
Make vegetable meatballs - Start with seasoning the veggies with a little salt. The veggies will release moisture, simply squeeze out the excess water. Add ginger, garlic, green chilies, red chili powder and ground pepper to the veggies and roll out balls. Bake or deep fry these meatballs until golden.
Make manchurian sauce - Saute ginger, garlic and green chilies in a little oil followed by onions and bell pepper (capsicum). When they are soft and tender, add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup and red chili sauce. You can also add cornstarch (corn flour) slurry to thicken the sauce. Simmer the sauce for a few minutes and add in the vegetable meatballs. Finally, give this a generous sprinkle of chopped spring onions (scallions).
Vegetable Manchurian
Ingredients
Veg meatballs:
- 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
- 2 cups grated carrot
- 1 cup chopped spring onions (scallions)
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
- 1 garlic chopped
- 1 cm fresh ginger chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped green chilies
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch (corn flour)
- 2 tablespoons all purpose (plain) flour
- Salt to taste
Cornstarch (corn flour) slurry:
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour)
- 1 tablespoon water
Veg manchurian:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies
- ½ cup sliced onions
- 1 small bell pepper (capsicum) sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon red chili sauce (sriracha sauce)
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce (ketchup)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Chopped spring onions (scallions) to garnish
Instructions
Make veg meatballs:
- Place cabbage, carrots, spring onions (scallions) and coriander (cilantro) leaves in a large bowl. Season with salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.
- Squeeze out excess water from the veggies and discard.
- To the veggies, add garlic, ginger, green chilies ground white pepper, red chili powder, cornstarch (corn flour) and all purpose (plain) flour.
- Stir to combine. Roll out small balls.
- You can bake or deep fry the veggie balls.
- To bake, arrange balls on a baking tray in a single layer. Spray with cooking oil.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200 C or 400 F and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- To deep fry, heat oil in a large saucepan. Add meatballs and deep fry until golden. Drain on an absorbent towel.
Make veg manchurian:
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add ginger, garlic and green chilies. Saute, stirring, for about 1-2 minutes or until aromatic.
- Add onions and bell pepper (capsicum). Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes or until tender.
- Add soy sauce, red chili sauce (sriracha sauce), ketchup (tomato sauce), vinegar, cornstarch (corn flour) slurry and ground white pepper. Season with salt.
- Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add vegetable meatballs. Heat through.
- Garnish with chopped spring onions (scallions).
Video
Notes
- Vegetables - Add seasonal vegetables like zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, green peas and green beans to the recipe. Cabbage and carrot are the classic options.
- Deep fry meatballs - Deep frying is the traditional method used in manchurian.
Nutrition
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Check out more classic Indian veg recipes:
- Vegetable Samosa
- Vegetable Cutlet | Indian Veggie Cakes
- Veg Puffs | Vegetable Puffs
- Veg Momos | South Asian Veg Dumplings
- Veg Dum Biryani - Restaurant Style
Tanya says
Tried this for dinner last night, my family couldn’t believe it was homemade!
Amy says
Added some baby corn to the gravy, made it even more colourful & tasty!
Emilie says
I wasn't familiar with Indo-Chinese cuisine before, but these crispy veg balls were absolutely addictive. I served it with jasmine rice and it was a hit. Will definitely be making this again!
Vikky says
I used cauliflower instead of cabbage and it worked beautifully!
Sofiamarti says
I really enjoyed making this & the flavors are so good. Just a quick question - is there a traditional side dish that's usually served with this? Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Rose Mary George says
These are usually served as appetizers or with a side like noodles, fried rice or plain steamed rice.
Neha says
This recipe is a keeper, easy to follow and so delicious. Thank you!