Category Archives: Lunch

Chop N’ Drop Chicken Curry

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Chop and Drop Chicken Curry

As promised, here is my Chop n’ Drop Chicken Curry recipe. I hope you made the Home-made Garam Masala that I posted last week, because this recipe calls for it. You will be surprised at how easy it is to make this tasty North Indian flavored dish.

Yesterday, I visited two of my friends. It was a fun day for me as I got to test this recipe in their homes. For me, it was a great learning experience, because I was cooking in a different environment with different equipment. For example, I have a gas stove in my kitchen and they had electric stoves in theirs. As a recipe developer, I realized that I described my recipes using the experience I had with a gas stove which might differ slightly with an electric stove.

The best lesson that I learned from cooking with friends was that sharing the cooking experience brought me much more joy than cooking by myself. I have those two friends to thank for this new enlightenment!

Chop n’ Drop Chicken Curry
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6-8

3 pounds chicken, (one large chicken, cut into pieces)
2 cups thinly sliced onion
2 tablespoons grated garlic, (one whole head or bulb)
3 teaspooons Kashmiri chilli powder, (depending on heat and your preference)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons coriander powder
¼ cup water, (or less depending on how much water your chicken gives out)
Salt
2 cups diced ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons grated ginger, (or cut into short, thin strips – like matchsticks)
¼ cup ghee
3 teaspoons garam masala, (use Home-made Garam Masala)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 green chillies, slit down the middle, (optional)

Add chicken, onion, garlic, chili, turmeric, coriander, water and salt to a heavy bottomed, wide pan. Please note here that you could add anywhere from two tablespoons to a quarter cup of water, and this would depend on how much water the chicken gives out and whether you drained the chicken well after you washed it. Mix all the ingredients and place on high heat and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add tomatoes and ginger, stir well, and cook on medium-high heat until the water evaporates and the chicken is cooked – about 10-15 minutes. Add ghee. Stir and fry until the oil separates and the chicken is roasted. Sprinkle garam masala, cilantro and green chillies. Mix everything, cover and cook for five minutes on low heat. Serve with chapatis, naan or rice.

Note: This chicken curry tastes best with the Home-made Garam Masala that you will find in last weeks blog post. You can use one large whole cut up chicken or a combination of pieces. Chicken in the U.S. cooks much faster than in India. So, I cooked it on high heat on a gas stove during the whole process. You may have to adjust the heat and time to make sure the chicken cooks well. I also used ghee for this recipe which added a distinct North Indian flavor and richness to the dish.

 

Sweet Corn Pudding

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Sweet Corn Pudding

This recipe is for one of my best friends who came to our Thanksgiving dinner. She loves this sweet corn pudding and asked if I could post the recipe on my blog. So this one is for you, my dear girlfriend!

I double the recipe and put it in a 2-quart round casserole dish. I usually make two of them because one is never enough for Thanksgiving! I’ve been asked by some of you to share our Thanksgiving menu, so here it is. The picture below was taken by Esther George at our Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you, Essie.

Thanksgiving Menu – 2013
Cajun turkey
Scalloped potatoes
Wild rice with mushrooms
Stuffing with pine nuts
Green bean casserole
Sweet corn pudding
Cranberry sauce
Sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping
Corn bread with honey butter
Gravy
Stripped delight
Apple pies
Mint limeade
Thanksgiving2 2013

Sweet Corn Pudding
Adapted from epicurious.com

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes (includes time in the oven)
Serves: 8 (as a side dish)

4 cups frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8x8x2 inch square baking dish. Blend thawed corn, eggs, cream, milk, sugar, room temperature butter, flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor or blender until the ingredients are almost smooth. Pour the batter into your prepared dish. Bake for 45 minutes until brown and the center is set. You will also see the pudding coming off the edge of the dish. Cool for ten minutes before serving.

Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry Sauce3

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and my Facebook friends. Here is a recipe for cranberry sauce that I make for my family Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is so easy and delicious that you will never buy another can of cranberry sauce again! It has an Indian spin to it, in that, I add a little dry chilli flakes while cooking the cranberries, but it is totally optional. You can add it if you like. This recipe can be make in advance. Just heat it up and serve.

The recipe is very basic and you can make it your own by adding ingredients, such as, chopped Granny Smith apple, slivered almonds, pecans, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Instead of sugar you can use maple syrup and instead of orange juice you can use cranberry juice. So, once you have the basic recipe, you can dress it up with ingredients that you like.

Enjoy the tangy, sweet, and spicy taste of this super easy cranberry sauce at your thanksgiving table this year.

Cranberry Sauce
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Serves: 6

1 cup water
¾ cup granulated sugar
12 ounces fresh cranberries, (340 g)
½ cup fresh orange juice
¼ teaspoon dry chilli flakes, (optional)
1 tablespoon orange zest
orange segments for garnish

In a small saucepan bring water to a simmer. Add sugar, fresh cranberries, orange juice, chilli flakes, and zest. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries begin to pop. It will take about 10-12 minutes.

Remove, dish out into a beautiful bowl, garnish with orange segments, and serve.

Fish Curry

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Mangalorean Fish Curry

Today’s recipe is one that I learned from one of my Mangalorean friends while I was in Manipal. I found a lot of similarities in the way we both prepared this dish. Both of us used coconut, curry leaves, garlic, and chillies. So, I shared my recipes from Kerala with her in exchange for her Mangalorean recipes. This fish curry uses tamarind as a souring agent. I added an extra seasoning of two teaspoons of oil, mustard seeds, and curry leaves before I took the above picture, but that is optional.

All you need is a pot of steamed rice to relish this fish curry. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Fish Curry
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6

3 pounds rock fish, cut into slices
Salt
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
5 dry whole red chillies
1 tablespoon whole dry coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
4 fenugreek seeds
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 cup water
4 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
1½ cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons tamarind extract

Using a paper towel, pat the slices of fish until dry. Rub a little salt and turmeric powder over them and marinate them in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

In a small pan, over medium-low heat, roast the chillies, coriander, cumin, peppercorn, and fenugreek seeds until fragrant. Cool completely. Add all the roasted ingredients, half of the chopped onion, garlic, and half cup of water to a blender and grind to a fine paste.

Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil, and when it shimmers, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves, and the rest of the chopped onion. Sauté until onion is lightly brown. Add the ground paste and cook until the oil separates. Add the coconut milk, tamarind extract, half cup water, salt, and fish slices. Stir gently, cover with a lid, and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve with steaming hot rice.

Misal Pav

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Misal3

I grew up in Pune, a city close to Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. Many of the dishes my mom prepared were influenced by our neighbors and friends. Needless to say, Maharashtrian cuisine is one of my indulgences.

Recently I was invited to a birthday lunch and misal was served as an appetizer. The sight, smell and taste of my days in Pune came flooding back. I shamelessly ate the appetizer as my main course, to the amusement of all the other guests. It made my day and I decided to do a blog post for others that might miss misal as much as I did.

I must confess that my misal recipe is unconventional. I know people from Maharashtra have their own authentic recipes, but I had to make do with whatever ingredients I had available. I used sprouted green gram (moong beans) because I did not have moth beans (matki). You can also make misal using a combination of legumes like sprouted green gram, moth beans, black eyed peas, and dried white peas. I made this misal recipe for a party of 15 people and everyone enjoyed it. The recipe looks long with the number of ingredients, but it’s not that difficult to make.

Misal Pav
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 15

For the Usal:
10 cups sprouted green gram, (moong beans) or sprouted moth beans, (matki)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 sprig curry leaves
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons Goda masala or Kanda-Lasoon masala
1 cup boiled and cubed potato, (optional)
Salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

Cook the sprouted green gram in a pressure cooker with one cup of water. I cooked it without the weight for five minutes. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large sauce pan, over medium-high heat, until it shimmers. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric, and curry leaves. Fry for five seconds and then add the chopped onion and cook until the onions turn translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until the onion turns light brown. Garlic should not turn brown. Add Goda masala and sauté for a minute longer. Add the sprouts, potato, salt and any water left from pressure cooking the sprouts. Mix well and cook for five minutes or until the water evaporates. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

For the Kat/Rassa (gravy):
2 cup thinly sliced red onions
1 tablespoon garlic slices
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
1 cup diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons oil
salt
2 packets Rasoi Magic Misal Rassa
8 cups water
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

In a medium size non-stick frying pan, add one teaspoon of oil. Place over medium heat. When the oil is hot add sliced onion and roast until they turn light brown. Remove and then add garlic. Roast the garlic slices until they start turning light brown. Remove and add the desiccated coconut. Roast until light brown. Remove, cool, and with the help of very little water grind onion, garlic and coconut in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Mix the two packets of Rasoi Magic Misal Rassa with two cups of water and set aside.

In a large pot heat three tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the ground onion, garlic and coconut paste. Fry until it turns light brown. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook until the oil separates and then add salt, the Rasoi Magic Misal Rassa mixture, and eight cups of water. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low and let it simmer for ten minutes.

To season the kat, take a small non-stick pan and add the rest of the oil. Place over low heat. When the oil gets warm turn off the stove and add one teaspoon of Kashmiri chilli powder. Pour this over the kat. It will float over the kat and give it a beautiful red color.

To put it all together and serve:
1 packet hot mix, (farsan, chivda)
1 packet fine sev
20 pavs, (or slices of bread or soft rolls)
2 cups boiled and cubed potatoes
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup finely chopped green chillies, (optional)
1 cup lemon wedges

To serve – put 2 tablespoons of usal in a small bowl, add a few cubed potatoes, two tablespoons of the hot mix, stir the kat, and pour two-three tablespoon over it. Then sprinkle sev, onion, tomatoes, cilantro and green chillies. Serve a lemon wedge and pav on the side. You could also cut the pav in half, butter and toast them on a griddle before serving. Misal a complete light meal any time of the day, a great tea time snack, and a showstopper at a party!

Notes:
– The quantity given for this recipe serves 15-20 people.
– Assemble the misal just before serving.
– Goda masala is available at Indian grocery stores. If you cannot get this masala you can use Kanda-Lasoon masala.
– Kat can be made by following the directions on the misal rassa packet.
– To sprout green gram, I soaked it in water for six hours. Drained it in a colander and put it in the oven with the light on overnight. I had beautiful sprouts the next morning.
– The picture at the bottom of the page was taken by a friend at the party.

misal6

Mirchi ka Salan

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Mirch ka Salan

The spicy, tangy and nutty gravy of mirchi ka salan makes it the perfect accompaniment to biriyani. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the famous Hyderabadi biriyani. It goes well with vegetable biriyani, chicken biriyani, egg biriyani and any other biriyani you make. I even enjoy it with plain rice, puris and naan. I hope you will enjoy my version of mirchi ka salan.

Mirch ka Salan

Prep time: 8 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
10 large (mild) green chillies
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
2 tablespoon unsalted roasted peanuts
1 cup roughly chopped onion
2 tablespoons roughly chopped ginger
2 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
¼ cup sesame oil/vegetable oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon nigella seeds
3 fenugreek seeds, (optional)
1 sprig curry leaves
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
3 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
2½ cups water
Salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoons tamarind extract

Directions:
Wash, dry, and slit green chillies lengthwise without cutting the chillies into two. You can remove the seeds or leave them in depending on the amount of heat you prefer. In a large, non-stick frying pan add one tablespoon of oil. Shallow fry the chillies until the skin of the chillies blister. Set aside.

In a small non-stick frying pan, over medium heat, roast desiccated coconut until light brown. Remove and set aside. Next, roast white sesame seeds until lightly toasted. Put it along with the coconut. Cool completely. Add the roasted peanuts to the toasted coconut and sesame and grind all three to a smooth paste with three tablespoons of water. Set aside.

Next, grind the onion, ginger and garlic with two tablespoons of water. Set aside.

Place a heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add three tablespoons of oil and when it shimmers, add the mustard, cumin, nigella, and fenugreek seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and the ground onion, ginger, and garlic paste. Cook until it turns light brown and the raw smell of garlic disappears. Then add the ground desiccated coconut, sesame, and peanut along with the turmeric, coriander, cumin and chilli powder. Cook for two minutes. Add water, salt, brown sugar, tamarind extract, and bring to a boil. As soon as the gravy begins to boil, turn the heat to low. Add the green chillies and simmer for eight minutes or until the gravy thickens. Serve hot with biriyani, puris or naan.

Egg Curry – Kerala Mutta Curry

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Egg Curry4

Egg curry or mutta curry, as we call this dish in Malayalam, is a faithful standby when unexpected guests arrive at lunch time or when the vegetable bin is empty in the refrigerator. Every Indian family has their own style of making egg curry. The egg curry recipe that I am sharing with you today, is from Kerala. Coconut milk, curry leaves, vinegar, and garam masala gives this dish its creamy, spicy, and aromatic fragrance and flavor. The versatile egg curry can be eaten with rice, chapatis, appams or string hoppers. It’s a good dish to have in your recipe collection.

Enjoy!

Egg Curry – Kerala Mutta Curry
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
6 hard boiled eggs
4 whole dry red chillies, (depending on heat and your preference)
3 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon whole black pepper
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 one-inch piece cinnamon
2 green cardamom, seeds only
2 cloves
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
3 tablespoons coconut oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
1 cup finely diced shallots
2 green chillies, slit in half (optional)
1 teaspoon finely diced ginger
1 teaspoon finely diced garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 (13.66 fl oz) can coconut milk, unsweetened
1 cup water
3 medium potatoes, quartered
2 teaspoons vinegar
Salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
A few curry leaves to garnish

Directions:
In a small non-stick frying pan, over low heat, roast the dry chillies, coriander seeds, whole black pepper, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. When it starts smelling fragrant, add the cumin seeds and roast for 10 seconds. Remove from the heat and cool the spices completely. Powder in a coffer grinder and set aside.

Place a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil and when it shimmers, add the mustard seeds. When they splutter add the curry leaves, green chillies, onion, ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Cook until the onion turns translucent. Add the powdered spices and stir. Mix one cup of coconut milk with one cup of water and add it to the pan. Add the potatoes, vinegar, and salt. Cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat. When the potatoes are done, add the boiled eggs and the remaining coconut milk. Let the curry simmer for five more minutes. Remove from the heat, add freshly ground black pepper, and garnish with curry leaves.

Hyderabadi Lagan ka Murgh – Hyderabadi Chicken cooked in a “Lagan”

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Lagan ka Murgh1

The wide, heavy-bottomed Indian pot called a lagan ensures evenly cooked meat, lentils and vegetables. It is the perfect utensil to cook the famous Hyderabadi Mughlai dish called, “Lagan ka Murgh.” However, if you don’t own a lagan, cook this dish in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot.

I have used chironji (charoli in Hindi) and dry coconut (copra in Hindi) in this recipe. Chironji are kernels of a fruit that has a nutty, musky flavor. Chironji, dry coconut, and ghee are available at Indian grocery stores. Some of my recipes tend to appear lengthy, because I choose to use freshly ground whole spices instead of store-bought, ready-made, spice mixes. You could use store-bought regular garam masala powder instead of the spice powder in this recipe.

Hyderabadi Lagan ka Murgh
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6-8

For the ground paste
¼ cup grated dry coconut, copra
5 cashew nuts
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons chironji

In a small pan, over low heat, roast dry coconut, cashew nuts, poppy seeds and chironji. When the dry coconut turns light brown, remove from heat. Cool completely and add just enough water so you can grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste.

For the spice powder
3 cloves
3 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms
1 one-inch piece cinnamon
¼ teaspoon caraway seeds, shah jeera
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 teaspoons coriander seeds

In a small pan, over low heat, lightly roast the cloves, cardamom, black cardamoms seeds, cinnamon, caraway, cumin, and coriander seeds until they smell fragrant. Cool, and using a coffee grinder, powder all the ingredients.

To make the Lagan ka Murg
½ cup ghee
2 cups finely sliced onion
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
2 cups tomato puree
3 tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder
2 crushed green chillies, (depending on heat and your preference)
½ cup finely chopped coriander leaves
¼ cup finely chopped mint leaves
1½ cups yoghurt, beaten until smooth
2 pounds chicken, cut into small pieces
2 cups water
Salt to taste

Place a heavy bottomed pot or a lagan over medium-high heat. Add ghee and the sliced onions. Fry until they turn golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and set aside two tablespoons to garnish the dish.

Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for two minutes, make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pot, and turn brown. Add the ground paste and fry for three minutes. Crush the fried onions and add it to the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Then add the tomato puree, Kashmiri chilli powder, green chillies, coriander, mint, yoghurt, chicken, water and salt. Mix well, cover with a lid, and let the chicken cook on medium-high heat for five minutes. Sprinkle the spice powder and turn the heat to medium-low.  Let the Lagan ka Murgh simmer for 20 minutes. Garnish with fried onions and coriander leaves. Serve with rice, naans or rotis.

Avial – Mixed Vegetables in a Lightly Spiced Creamy Sauce

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Avial2

Avial, sometimes spelled Aviyal, is a curry made with several different types of vegetables, yoghurt, and coconut. It is seasoned with coconut oil, curry leaves, and dry whole red chillies. Feasts in Kerala are incomplete with this wholesome, creamy, lightly-spiced dish.

The beauty of this dish lies in the uniformly cut, colorful, medley of vegetables cooked to al dente. There are different methods that can be used in cooking the vegetables. You could steam them, adding tougher vegetables that take longer to cook, first, and then adding the rest according the the time it will take to cook them. Or you could microwave the vegetables that take the longest to cook for a few minutes, to give them a head start, and then add them to the rest of the vegetables and cook them on the stove top, like I did in this recipe.

Vegetables that are most commonly used for avial are elephant yam, raw plantain, different types of pumpkin, French beans, cucumber, drumstick, bottle gourd, carrots, eggplant, and peas. It is difficult to find fresh drumstick where I live, so I’ve used frozen drumstick that I found at the Indian grocery store. You can substitute green raw mango or tamarind pulp for the yoghurt.

The secret of adding flavor and aroma to avial is the final step of seasoning the dish. So follow the steps carefully and I am sure will enjoy this simple but unusual vegetarian dish from Kerala.

Avial
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6-8

1 raw banana
6-8 pieces of drumsticks, (frozen)
¼ cup water + 3 tablespoons
2 small red potatoes
2 small carrots
10-12 French beans
1 small bottle gourd
½ cup shelled green peas, (fresh or frozen)
1 cup grated coconut
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon crushed red chillies, (depending on heat and your preference)
3 green chillies, roughly chopped (depending on heat and your preference)
Salt to taste
1 cup yoghurt
3 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon coconut oil
1 sprig curry leaves
2 whole dry red chillies

Cut the ends of the raw banana and cut it in half. If you have fresh drumstick, peel and cut into 2 inch pieces or use frozen drumstick. Put these two vegetables in a microwave safe bowl with quarter cup of water and cook for eight minutes. Set aside to cool.

Cut the rest of the vegetables uniformly, lengthwise, into two-inch long pieces. Peel and cut the banana into two inch long pieces.

In a blender or food processor coarsely grind grated coconut, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, crushed red chillies, and green chillies.

In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, add half a teaspoon of coconut oil. Add all the vegetables and sauté for five minutes. Add three tablespoons of water, salt to taste and turn the heat to low, cover with a lid, and let the vegetables cook for another five minutes.

Add the coarsely ground coconut and cover the vegetables with it. Turn the heat to medium-high and let the vegetables and coconut cook until you see steam coming through the ground coconut. About three minutes. Do not over cook the vegetables. Remove from heat.

Beat yoghurt with a fork until smooth. Add it to the vegetables and coconut mix. Stir gently with the handle of a wooden spoon.

In a small pan, over medium-high heat, add three tablespoons of coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add curry leaves and whole dry red chillis. Turn off the heat.  Pour this seasoning over the avial. Cover the dish with a lid and let it rest until time to serve. This dish goes well with steaming hot rice or as a side dish to any grand feast!

Cauliflower Manchurian

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Cauliflower Manchurian5

A few years ago, Cauliflower Manchurian (Gobi Manchurian in Hindi), was a dish that I always ordered when I went to a restaurant in India. It was so popular that every home cook wanted to learn how to make it, including me. So, I searched for recipes, learned some tips from my brother-in-law, and also asked restaurant chefs for their secrets to making this slightly crunchy, sweet and sour, spicy and garlicky delicacy.

Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques are used in making this dish. All the ingredients can be purchased at Indian grocery stores. You may even find them in the ethnic aisle of your major grocery store.  So, follow the recipe carefully and I am sure you will be pleased with the result. Cauliflower Manchurian is great as an appetizer or as a side dish with rotis or rice.

Cauliflower Manchurian
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6-8

For the Cauliflower Manchurian
1 cauliflower (2 pounds), cut into florets
½ cup corn starch
½ cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons rice flour, (optional)
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
1 teaspoon pepper powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoons of water
Oil for deep frying

Microwave the cauliflower florets in two tablespoons of water for three minutes. Let stand for five minutes then drain and cool. Make a smooth batter with corn starch, flour, rice flour, chilli, pepper, salt, and six tablespoons of water. The batter should not be too thick or too thin, but it should be able to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Add a little more water if needed.

Heat a wok with enough oil for deep frying, about three inches. The oil is ready, when a very small dollop of batter that is put into the hot oil, comes up in a few seconds. Dip five or six cauliflower florets into the batter and fry until golden brown. Drain on a paper-towel lined tray.

For the Sauce
3 tablespoons sesame seed oil or canola oil
½ cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped green chilli, (depending on heat and your preference)
6 tablespoons chilli garlic sauce, (depending on your preference)
6 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
3 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons diagonally sliced spring onions, (green parts only)
2 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds

In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, add oil. When the oil is shimmering, add shallots and fry until translucent. Add garlic and green chilli and sauté for two minutes. Add chilli garlic sauce, tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce, chilli powder, salt, and water.  Stir for a few seconds. Remove from heat.

Add the cauliflower manchurian to the sauce, five minutes before serving. This will keep them crisp. Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds. Your slightly crunchy, sweet and sour, spicy and garlicky appetizer is ready to be served.