Manchurian is one of the most popular Indo Chinese starter recipes. It has the right blend of Indian spices & Chinese sauces.Cauliflower,Babycorn,Paneer,Mushroom etc are widely used in preparing this starter. I tried recreating the recipe using Idli. Idli being the staple breakfast of many households in SouthIndia, this manchurian is the best way to use leftover idlis instead of the usual idli upma. You can even use fresh idlis and serve this as an appetizer during potluck parties.
I have directly deep fried the idlis to give a nice crunchy texture to manchurian. Also you can add the sauces depending on your taste buds. Adding too much of tomato sauce might change the texture of idlis. To avoid a soggy manchurian, ensure that you use right amount of sauces. The following measurement serves 2.
My Notes :
- If you would like to cut down calories, then instead of deep frying you can shallow fry the idli pieces in a nonstick pan
- Incase if you don’t have tomato sauce, substitute it with tomato ketchup
- Sesame seeds adds a great flavor to manchurian. However if you don’t like sesame seeds then you can very well skip the step and garnish the manchurian with just spring onions
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 6 Idli
- 1 Onion
- 1 Capsicum
- 2 tablespoons chopped Garlic finely
- 1 tablespoon chopped Ginger finely
- 2 Green Chillies (split lengthwise)
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 3 tablespoons Tomato Sauce
- Oil to deep fry idli
Ingredients
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|
- Chop Idlis into small cubes
- Heat oil in a frying pan and fry them until they are golden brown
- Drain excess oil in a kitchen towel
- If you are using fresh idli, make sure to cool them completely before deep frying in oil
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a separate pan and add in chopped ginger,garlic,green chillies
- Saute for 2 minutes and then add chopped onions,capsicum
- Add salt,chilli powder and continue sauteing for 3-4 minutes
- Do not add water. Onions and capsicum will become translucent in few minutes
- At this stage add deep fried idlis and the sauces (soy,tomato)
- Make sure that the idlis are coated well with spices,sauces
- After 5 minutes remove idlis from pan and they are ready to be served
- Spring Onions and tossed sesame seeds are used to garnish the manchurian
- Serve them hot as a starter or as an evening snacks to kids. They will definitely enjoy it
