Baby Corn Manchurian
Baby Corn Manchurian is crispy crunchy fried baby corn, tossed in an extremely flavorful spicy, sweet and tangy Manchurian sauce. It is a popular appetizer from the Indian and Indo-Chinese restaurants. In this post I share how to make this Baby Corn Manchurian at home without having to deep fry the baby corn. You can eat this on its own like a snack or with a meal of fried rice or noodles.
Manchurian dishes are a popular appetizer and side from the Indo-Chinese cuisine. The main ingredient in these dishes can be chicken, mixed vegetables, paneer or eggs. This Baby Corn Manchurian is yet another variation loved by a lot of people.
About Baby Corn Manchurian
Baby corn is a fabulous vegetable that is sweet and crunchy with a delightful flavor. In restaurants, bite sized pieces are coated with a batter and deep fried until crisp. These are then tossed in an umami manchurian sauce prepared with a generous amount of soya sauce, tomato ketchup and other aromatics.
At home we love baby corn and always hate to deep fry them. I often make this quick and easy black pepper baby corn stir fry. For this recipe, I toss the bite sized pieces with seasoned flour and water, shallow fry before adding to the manchurian sauce. Since baby corn is crunchy you don’t need to deep fry unless you like a thick coating of the batter/flour.
On occasions I have also made this in the air fryer. It gives the same results like the shallow fried baby corn since we don’t make a batter, but simply coat the veggie with a thin layer of flour. However if you want to make a restaurant style dish that is deep fried with a thick batter coating, use this Paneer manchurian recipe and make a batter. Deep fry and use the same sauce from the paneer manchurian recipe.
I have tried to keep this recipe healthier with minimal use of refined flour, less oil and less sauces. This is how I have made for my boys.
Step by step Instructions
1. Wash baby corn and cut them diagonally. If you like to make a restaurant style baby corn manchurian, make a batter first. To make the batter, add corn flour, plain flour, salt and black pepper to a bowl. Add water and make a thick batter. Dip the baby corn in the batter and fry in oil.
I like to minimize the corn and plain flour so omitted plain flour and used 2 tbsp corn flour. I added the baby corn to a bowl and then corn flour, salt and pepper powder.
2. Tossed everything well, sprinkled little water and tossed again.
3. Deep fry or shallow fry. You can also grill these. I shallow fried in 2 batches.
4. Fry them until golden, remove to a paper towel or a plate.
5. Transfer the oil to a bowl and keep 1 to 2 tbsps in the pan. Put on the flame to high this lends a smoky flavor. Fry ginger garlic until they smell good. Add onions and spring onion whites. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add capsicums, saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Add 1 tbsp. soya sauce.
8. Add ¼ to ½ tbsp. vinegar.
9. Add 1½ tbsp tomato sauce and ¾ to 1½ tbsp. chilli sauce (optional).
10. Add ½ tsp sugar and 2 to 3 tbsp. water to make a sauce. Taste test and adjust the sauce to your liking. Add more tomato or chilli sauce if needed. If you like to make a gravy, stir in 1 tsp corn starch (corn flour) in 3 tbsps water. For more gravy, add more sauces and more corn flour. Cook until the sauce thickens.
11. Add baby corn, spring onions greens and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve baby corn manchurian as a starter or snack. You can serve with fried rice or noodles. Garnish with spring onions.