Gobi/ cauliflower Manchurian

We are in the process of adding broccoli and cauli's to our daily food and i must say i hate broccoli and so does Ro but he tries hard to eat it and doesn't complain. We try to include it in our soups and its still raw and horrible. For me, its more like keeping the one and only broccoli floret till the last gulp and then try and chuck it without Ro looking. But he manages to catch me just before that and i have to chew it like a mincing machine and swallow it with great difficulty. Cauli's also are not that great in soups, but not as bad as broccoli so i manage to eat that. We had left over caulis from one of the soup sessions and i couldn't handle it raw again. So i tried out a Manchurian recipe which turned out great, although Ro was eating my head while i was preparing it saying, 'I'm hungry whats there to eat, il die of hunger etc.' So pardon the 'not so presentable pic' which i had to hurry through.

I mixed the recipe from mariasmenu and from another blog and came up with this. Also, Swarhas an interesting recipe for gobi Manchurian on her blog.

Cauliflower florets- 2 cups

To marinate:

Corn flower- 2 tbs

Maida- 1 tbs

pepper pwd- 1/2 tsp

Water- enough to make a loose paste

Salt- to taste

Oil- enough to fry

Bell pepper- 1, sliced into cubes

Onion- 1, thinly sliced

Green chillies- 2, slit lengthwise

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

Soy sauce- 2 tbs

Tomato sauce- 1 tbs

Chilli sauce- 1 tbs (i didn't have any so i made a paste of 1/2 tsp of vinegar and 1 tsp of Kashmiri chilli pwd)

Pepper pwd- 1 tsp

Spring onions- to garnish

Salt- to taste

Boil the cauliflower florets for about 5 minutes, drain it completely and dry on kitchen towels. It must be completely moisture-free

Mix all ingredients in the 'to marinate' section with enough water to make a loose paste (not too watery though). Dip the florets in this mixture and deep fry in hot oil. Drain on paper towels.

In a frying pan, heat some oil (leftover from frying) and sautee the onions, bell pepper and green chillies till they become soft. To this add the Ggp and sautee well, till the raw smell goes. Next, add all the sauces, pepper and salt and mix well. In goes the fried florets and combine well with the sauces and masala. It must be well coated. Add some spring onions to enhance the taste, or just garnish it when you are ready to serve.

Notes: I don't like the florets completely coated with cornflower, so i don't over do it

Bell pepper is optional, but it brings an authentic Chinese taste to it, i think!

I marinated the florets in the refrigerator for over an hour which was quite accidental, but i guess it was for the best.

Fry the marinated florets in oil till crunchy brown and serve it with garlic mayo mixed with a bit of tomato ketchup and it serves as a great starter. Have tried it a lot of times.