Veg Manchurian is the most popular Indo – Chinese dish which is a must order for us when at a restaurant. Veg Manchurian means dumplings loaded with vegetables that are fried then dunked in a freshly tossed sweet and spicy sauce . You will find deep fried manchurian balls at the restaurant. This veg manchurian recipe skips the frying and is made healthy.
There are two types of Manchurians , one is dry manchurian served as an appetizer and other one is manchurian gravy – Manchurian dumplings dunked in a sweet and sour sauce. Today I am sharing a healthier and downright delicious version of the Manchurian gravy – Easy no fry Veg Manchurian Gravy-indo chinese,vegan & GF. Enjoy it with a side of some steamed noodles or rice and dinner is sorted.
My friends call this version as better than the restaurant veg Manchurian . This indo chinese recipe is bursting flavors and made up of melt in mouth dumplings .
Veg manchurian gravy is best paired with steamed or fried rice or hakka noodles. But feel free to enjoy it on it’s own.
Do not forget to check out the post on easiest noodles – hakka noodles with tips and tricks to cook a perfect one. Click here for the link.
Let’s quickly look at the differences
Restaurant style vs my style.
Restaurant one is – deep fried , has all purpose flour , msg and cornflour . My version makes use of the fabulous appe/ paniyaram pan for making the Manchurian balls with just brush strokes of oil , has no msg, apf or cornflour instead uses poha/ beaten rice or steamed rice and rice flour as binding. The rice/ poha is the secret to soft , juicy mouth melting dumplings. Plus it makes it completely gluten free. Yay!!
I think the health factor is enough to convince you to try this recipe , but I have a bonus reason too .
It can be made ahead of time , that makes it perfect for pot lucks or large gatherings.
The Manchurian balls can be made ahead of time and refrigerated upto 3 days or frozen upto 2 months which saves you a lot of time on the actual event day.
Given below is a step by step pictorial followed by the recipe and important notes.
Highlights
Vegan
Gluten free
Easy
Downright delicious
Healthy version
How to make Indo Chinese veg manchurian ?
No fry Vegan and Healthy Veg Manchurian - indo chinese
Ingredients
- For the Manchurian balls
- 2 cups finely chopped vegetables* i.e
- ¼ cup grated carrots
- ½ cup grated/ food processor cauliflower
- ½ cup finely chopped/ roughly pulsed bell peppers
- 5-6 french beans finely chopped /pulsed
- ¼ cup finely chopped /pulsed cabbage
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon poha /beaten rice or ½ cups boiled rice
- 1 tablespoon rice flour*
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon chilly sauce
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic or garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger or ginger paste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- For the gravy
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 cup finely chopped red/white onion or shallots
- ½ cup red or green bell pepper/Shimla mirch/capsicum
- ½ cup spring onions chopped
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon green / red chilly sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey/sugar/agave
- 2 teaspoon tomato ketchup
- 2 teaspoon vinegar
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- Salt to taste*
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Handful of chopped spring onions green part for garnish
Instructions
- Place poha/ beaten rice in a colander . Wash it thoroughly under tap water . Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes for it to soften and double its size .
- Meanwhile dice and pulse the vegetables in a food processor or chop it /grate it finely .
- Now take a bowl , add in the the vegetables, soften poha or cooked rice , rice flour and all the mentioned seasoning.
- Make lime size small balls. The balls should be smooth and soft yet firm enough so that they do not fall apart. Add 1-2 tablespoon of flour if you are in doubt. At this point you can deep fry them or use paniyaram pan to cook . Heat up the paniyaram/appe pan. When warm ,brush each cavity lightly with oil. Place the prepared balls in the pan and let it cook on low to medium heat for 5 -6 minutes rotating mid way until golden brown . Take them out of the pan and keep aside .
- For the gravy
- Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Once warm add in ginger garlic , sautee for30 seconds add in the onions , bell peppers. Sautee for 30 seconds. Add in the mention sauces. Cook for 10 seconds. Now add in 1 cup of water , pepper and let the gravy come to a simmer . Meantime , in a bowl whisk the rice flour with ½ cup of water. Once the gravy starts simmering , add in the prepared rice flour slurry slowly by one hand and whisking the gravy with a spoon by another hand until incorporated well .
- The gravy will start to thicken within a minute. Switch off the flame . Taste test and then add salt if needed.
- Just before serving warm up the gravy and add Manchurian balls to it. Serve piping hot with rice or noodles.
Notes
You can finely chop or use food processor to grate veggies for Manchurian balls .
If you do not have rice flour substitute it with cornstarch / all purpose flour
Substitute poha/beaten rice with cooked rice .
Nutrition
Adjust spice to your preference . This recipe has a spice level of 3 , 1 being mild and 5 being spicy .
A quick update about brands I have used here –
Though it does not matter which brand you are using , these are the following ones I have used for this recipe –
Norpro aebleskiver pan – paniyaram /appe pan from amazon.
Ching’s dark soy sauce , I like tamari sauce too. Update as on 2018 – I use kikomon ‘s low sodium natural Soy Sauce
Mitchell’s green chilly sauce .
Nakano’s rice vinegar .
Inchin’s bamboo garden vegetable noodles.
We do not like thick noodles , I love using inchin’s noodles found at indian grocery store or thin whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair pasta found in any departmental store.
Don’t have a paniyaram pan and still wanna make healthy one’s
If you do not own this pan, you can flatten the manchurian balls like tikkis and fry on a non stick skillet lightly brushing it with oil on both sides until golden brown . You can call them as gold coins 🙂
How to bake manchurian ?
Or you can bake them at 400 degrees f / 200 deg c for 20 minutes flipping half way and for golden brown top , place the baking tray on top rack and broil it on high for 1 -2 minutes on both side. Keep a watch to prevent them from burning.
You might like the following recipes too-
healthy chilly garlic noodles in sesame pepper sauce.
Hope you like this recipe and do give it a try. I would love to hear from you. If you have tried any of my recipes do drop in a feedback in the comment section or on my Facebook page carveyourcraving in messages section and follow me on Pinterest .
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Thanks for stopping by.
Hi. Looks delicious, can the manchurian balls be made a day in advance and stored in refrigerator? Will the results be similar?
Yes, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just simmer them in the gravy covered with a lid until it is hot and the balls will soften well.
Thanks for the recipe, looking for a gluten-free version.
Did you ever try using chickpea flour for the binding?
Rice flour or corn starch is gluten-free. You can use chickpea flour as well if you like.
Hi.. What’s the substitute of cauliflower? As I’m Jain and do not eat cauliflower..
Hello Sneha you may use finely chopped cabbage and green beans for this recipe.
Ok.. so rest quantity I will take same and will increase cabbage n beans instead of cauliflower.
Yes Sneha, and it should hold up. If not add more poha or boiled rice.
Has anyone tried to make these balls in an air fryer?
I don’t see any reason as to why not!! Melissa you can definitely do these in the air fryer .
Manchurian are very soft from inside.How to make them firm to cut thru.Made in Oven/Appam pan
Hi Babita, manchurians are soft but holds shape very well. Did you follow exact measures. May be increase the flour by a tablespoon at a time.
Your friend is right. It is best manchurian gravy ever.
Thank you. I am glad you like it as well!
This recipe turned spoon licking good. My indo Chinese food never turns well according to my husband. But this one turned yum . Thank you
Awesome Shobha, I am so happy that this recipe worked for you.
The best ever manchurian I have made were the words of my husband. Turned out 10/10. Soft and yum .
Aww that’s sweet. I am happy that it turned out great for you!
Hi Khushboo…this d wonderful no fry recipe that I was looking out for since long.Thank u so much .
I made a slight change..instead of rice flour slurry I used Nachni / Ragi flour for d gravy for .Nobody , could make out d differenc .
Ragi flour I use even for Manchaow nd hot nd sor sour soups too .Ragi is a good rich source of Iron .
Thank u again for this no fry recipe .
Ragi flour sounds good too. Thank you for sharing your tip. Indeed any food can be turned healthier with so many options to go for.
I have just made the Manchurian gravy recipe but used roasted cauliflower instead of the veggie balls since I don’t have that amazing pan to make them in. But it was just as wonderful with the roasted cauliflower and I thank you or the recipe to try =)
SherryE , this is fantastic .. I love roasted cauliflower and you have made an awesome replacement. THank you for a lovely feedback. If you still wish to make balls ,you can bake them or flatten them a bit and cook on a non stick skillet , flipping mid way when done.
Too good ..amazing…looking for more veg recipe s of Chinese starter s n min course pls post some authentic or fusion starters recipe for parties at home
Sure, request noted .Thank you.
Thanks a lot Khushboo for the wonderful tip of using poha/rice and rice flour instead of all purpose/chikpea flour. For the first time ever I loved the manchurian balls I made and that too healthy:) they never came out perfect before! Also due to less time in hand I used ready made gravy but I am sure your gravy recipe must make my dish super tasty next time.Just love you and your recipes?? planning to try other recipes soon .Keep Rocking!
That’s lovely Prajakta , happy to know you loved it.
Do you have a similar healthy recipe for chicken manchurian too?? My husband loves it and wanted to make a healthier version for him…if not then please advise as to what all can be used with chicken! Tia..
P.S. Ur recipe and pics look too tempting!!!
Swapana I do not consume meat, so cannot comment on that 🙂 I share only vegetarian and vegan recipes.
Hey khusboo dont we need to squeeze out water from the veggies before binding them?? And what consistency is needed for making on appe pans for balss like koftas kababs.. Does it gets cooked from inside too?? Sorry asking so many ques an amateur bought the pan u mentioned but it dint came with anything to flip..
Thanks for reaching out Namrata , All your questions are already answered on the post itself 🙂 Please go through the post and pictures carefully.
Create a page on facebook so we can get regular updates :)..
I already have one 🙂 , links are mentioned at the end of each post as well as on the main page and towards the end.
I made them , thank you so much for this genius recipe , I never thought manchurian can be guilt free . You are fabulous so are your recipes . Always a hit . Thank you
Welcome Swarna, hail paniyaram pan 🙂
Hi…how do i make it dry as i don’t like wet manchurian.TIA.
Simply skip the water and rice flour slurry.
Mouth watering! The substitutes that you brought such as poha instead of maida and using appe pan instead of deep frying is very interesting. I will surely try your version. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe..:)
It works like a charm, have been making this way for years now. And the best part it doesn’t taste flour and are more softer. Thanks for stopping by. Do give a feedback when you try it.
Luks yummy
Vl try soon
Which appe pan u have used for making balls?
Thanx
I have updated my post regarding things I have used. Please refer to the list.
Hi! So good to stumble across your blog from the FB Yummy in my tummy page. Love the healthier version of our family favorite manchurian you have here. Question for you: The paniyaram/appe pan.. is it the same as an aebleskiver pan? Where can I buy it in the US.. Amazon? Thanks!
Yes , it’s the same. Thank you. I have updated my post regarding things I have used. Please refer to the list.
Looks appetising!!! Will try it soon and let u knw the result 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Love the No Fry version 🙂
Thank you Soniya!