The inspiration of this recipe is a recipe for vegetable Manchurian I saw in a Nita Mehta’s Vegetarian Chinese book.   I have been trying out several of her recipes recently.  I did not like the thin brownish sauce she served them in so I changed the sauce recipe and  served the Manchurian balls in a thick and spicy tomato soup.  Also I couldn’t help smiling when I noticed that she missed out the oil as an ingredient needed for frying these balls.

Ingredients for the Manchurian Balls:

• 1 cup grated cauliflower
• 1 cup grated green cabbage
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 3 slices of bread
• 2 tbls coarse corn flour
• 2 tbls self raising flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp dhana jiru (a mixture of cumin and coriander powders)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced using a garlic press)
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 green chilies chopped very finely (can use less if you like)
• 1 litre oil for deep frying.

Ingredients for the tomato soup

• 2 cups of pasatta
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced using a garlic press)
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 green chilies chopped very finely (can use less if you like)
• 1 tbs soya sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp jaggery (or brown sugar)
• 2 tbls corn flour
• 1 tbls sunflower oil
• 1 finely chopped onion
• small bunch of coriander for the soup and garnishing
• chopped chilies for garnishing
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ turmeric

Method:

1.  Soak the bread in just enough water to cover it.

2.  Transfer the grated cauliflower, cabbage and carrots to a mixing bowl.  Add the salt, chili powder, dhana jiru, the ginger, garlic, green chilies, turmeric, the corn flour and the self raising flour.

3. Remove the water from the bread by squeezing it and add to the vegetable mix. Mix well.  The bread helps to bind the mixture.

4. Once mixed, divide the mixture into very small balls and deep fry them until crispy. (apologies for the over exposed photographs)

5. Now Prepare the soup. Heat some oil and cook the onions until they are soft. Add the green chilies, garlic and ginger.

6. Add all the spices such as the salt, turmeric, jaggery and the lemon juice.    Add the pasatta and 2 cups of water and allow the soup to simmer away.

7.  In a small cup, mix the corn flour with water until smooth and add to the soup.  Also add a handful of coriander.

8.  Once the soup comes to a boil, taste it and adjust taste.

9.  Add the fried Manchurian balls to the soup and allow the balls to soak for half an hour so before serving these on their own or with plain rice.

Do you change recipes to suit your taste?

You may wish to try some more of my soup recipes:

• Oven Roasted Tomato Soup 
• Tomato and Vegetable soup 
• Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup
• Spicy Tomato Soup
• Butternut squash Soup
• Carrot and Coriander Soup
• Tomato Soup Indian Style
• Oven Roasted Tomato Soup
• Sweet Corn Soup

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