Fried Rice with Baby Corn Manchurian

I am a huge fan of Indo-Chinese food. Though I hadn't tried any of the recipes before, one day I had this obsessive need to make gobi manchurian. I set out to the wet market but to my huge disappointment, they were out of cauliflower. A bit disappointed, I headed over to the supermarket to get milk, and there in the chiller was a packet of baby corn. A particular evening in Hyderabad flashed through my memory and I knew the answer. Baby corn manchurian!

I also needed the quintessential ingredient for Chinese cooking - Soy sauce. There were about a dozen varieties in the supermarket and I picked one which I thought would be closest in taste to the one and only kind available in India - Sil Soy Sauce!

Here is the simple meal I made. It came out mild and tasty.

Fried Rice

Serves 2

What I Used:

Cooked Basmati rice - 2 cups

Chopped carrots - 1/2 cup

Chopped beans - 1/2 cup

Chopped onions - 1/2 cup

Capsicum - half of a medium sized one

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

Pepper - 2-3 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and lightly saute the onions till translucent.

2. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.

3. Now add the carrots and beans and keep frying till the vegetables are half cooked.

4. Next add the capsicum and pepper and mix well.

5. Increase the heat to maximum and pour the soy sauce in, stirring continuously. Keep stirring for 10-15 seconds and then lower the heat.

6. Add the cooked rice with required salt and mix well. Let it fry for another 3-4 mins and then remove.

Baby Corn Manchurian


This is a dish I have only tried in restaurants. I have never tasted a home-made version so I was a bit apprehensive. I followed my sister's recipe for Gobi Manchurian and that I have tasted and verified is yummy! So I am just replicating her recipe here, for easy reference, with slight changes in quantity.

What I Used

(Serves 2)

Baby corn - about 10-12, cut into half.

For the batter

Cornflour - 2 tbsp

Maida - 4 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Crushed shallots - 2-3 (optional)

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

For the gravy

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Capsicum - 1/2 of one, cubed

Onion - 1, cubed

Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Cornflour - 1 tsp, mixed in half cup water

Spring onion - to make your dish look prettier and smell nicer - optional

Salt - add ONLY after checking because the soy sauce has salt in it!

How I Made It:

1. Make a thick batter with all the ingredients. Add the halved baby corn in this and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

2. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the ginger garlic paste for about 10 seconds. Add the onions and saute for another minute. Then add the capsicum and saute for another minute. Its important not to brown them and retain the crunch.

3. Increase the heat to maximum and add the soy sauce mixing well for about 30 seconds. Lower the heat, add pepper powder and the fried baby corn pieces. Mix well.

If you want a dry dish to serve as an appetizer, or just prefer it that way, you can stop at this stage and serve it. If you want some gravy then proceed to step 4.

4. Pour in the cornflour+water mixture and stir well. Don't let it boil. Cornflour tends to thicken the gravy so remove once you have mixed it in.

5. Garnish with some spring onions and serve hot.

This goes over to AWED - Chinese event hosted by DK of Culinary Bazaar.