Description: Indo-chinese Spicy Fried Cauliflower
Ingredients:
20 florets of cauliflower
¾ Cups of Maida/ All-purpose flour
¼ Cups of Corn Flour
2 Tablespoons of Rice Flour
¾ Teaspoons of Red Chilli Powder (Affects spice level; add more for more spice or add less for less spice)
1 Teaspoon of Ginger-garlic Paste
¼ Teaspoons of Turmeric Powder
¼ Teaspoons of Pepper Powder
½ Teaspoons of Table Salt (Affects saltiness; add more for more saltiness or add less for less saltiness)
5 ½ - 6 Cups of Water
4-5 cups of Cooking Oil
1-2 Green Chilli slits
¼ cups of Finely Chopped Onion
¼ cups of finely chopped spring onion
2 Tablespoons of Tomato Sauce
1 Teaspoon of Chilli Sauce
½ bellpepper (split from a whole), finely chopped
2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
Recipe:
Part 1:
In a large vessel, add 4 cups of water and ½ teaspoons of table salt. Boil this vessel.
Once the water begins to boil, add the 20 florets of gobi to it.
Let the gobi boil for about 2-3 mins. Don’t Overcook it.
Drain out all the water and pour 1 cup of cold water into the vessel. Drain the gobi from the water.
Make the batter by mixing ¼ cups of corn flour with ¾ cups of maida, add ½ tsp of red chili powder, ½ tsp of ginger-garlic paste, and ¼ tsp of tablesalt.
Add ½ cups of water to the batter and make the batter without any lumps.
Dip the gobi into the batter and begin deep frying them.
Fry until gobi is golden-brown in color.
Set aside the gobi into a dry bowl.
Part 2:
Heat and saute 4 tsp of oil, ½ tbsp of Ginger-garlic paste, 1-2 slit green chilis, ¼ cups of onion , ¼ cups of spring onion, in a large frying pan.
After 1 minute add chopped bell pepper and continue to saute till it slightly changes in color
Add the 2 tbsps of Tomato Sauce, 1 Teaspoon Chilli Sauce, 2 Tbsps of soy sauce, ¼ tsps of pepper powder, ¼ tsps of salt and the ¼ tsps of red chilli powder all to the large frying pan. Mix all of the added ingredients and saute for around 2 mins.
When the mix is fully cooked and begins to develop a gravy-like consistency add the fried florets of cauliflower.
Mix both the gravy and florets till the gravy is in a coated layer over the florets of cauliflower.
The dish is now ready to be served!
My Story:
Our forks clang as we both reached over, digging into the last floret at the same time. As the dynamics in the room dramatically shifted, I looked up into my older brother’s devious eyes. Smiling, he said, “it's mine.”
It was a Friday, after school. I, immersed in the task of completing my homework, began to smell the enticing, drool-inducing gobi manchurian. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled with a newfound sense of emptiness. My temptations bested me and I began creeping down the hallway, toward the kitchen. I peeked around the corner and saw my dad mixing the peppery batter while my mom, on the other side of the kitchen, cut the refreshing veggies.
“You know that if you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it from y- '' Before he could finish his sentence, I pulled away my fork, ripping off as much as I could. I began to run.
My mother dragged each piece left and right through the spicy batter and submerged it. My dad took the, now dripping and almost creamy, florets and fried them to crispy, sizzling perfection.
I glanced behind me in hopes that my feral maneuver had dazed my brother. To no surprise, he was hot on my tail, almost as if anticipating my outburst. Both of us knew that it was only a matter of time before I would be caught. Both of us also knew that I only had one destination, that being the room my parents were in: The Master Bedroom.
Then, my parents blended the chilli powder, pepper powder, salt, and onions. They always said that “you could tell that it was ready when you couldn’t resist yourself from a quick taste.” I saw my dad lick the spoon that still had some of the spices left on it before he put it in the sink. This indicated to me that my stomach’s desire was only minutes away from being quenched.
As I turned onto the hall that led straight to my parent’s room, my brother caught me. He began trying to pry the fork out of my hands. My valiant effort was to no avail, as he was able to disband me of my prize fairly quickly.
My dad poured the now-fried florets into the spicy mixture. One last mix and our feast was ready to be devoured. My brother, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and I got our forks and prepared for the feast.
Hearing all this commotion, my mom came out of her room. She found me empty-handed while my brother celebrated with 2 forks in his hand. My mother, immediately recognizing this common occurrence, told my older brother to share the last piece with me. This was the compromise that I had been vying for: A fair split. Even though he had caught me, in the end, I won.