Not so very Chinese food for Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is celebrated on a very high note in Melbourne! Also, with so many Asian friends around it feels like a vey joyous time of the year. A couple of years go I enjoyed the best Chinese lunch ever at my friend's place for CNY. It was the most delicious meal I have ever tasted and was nothing like the food we get in the markets. It was really spicy and full of flavour. I have always enjoyed chinese cuisine but had a very big misunderstanding of the flavours as what I have grown up to know as Chinese food was an Indian version of the cuisine! However, this year I wanted to relive those flavours from childhood and enjoy a very Indian-Chinese feast. The menu consisted of vegetable fried rice, gobhi manchurian, fried noodle salad and veg steamed wontons.

Indo-chinese as it is more fondly called, is a more spicier version of the more authentic chinese cuisine and the use of chilly and soy sauce is a bit more liberal than the usual. Gobhi manchurian in particular is something I have only had in India and is so popular with or without the sauce.  However, that said the common ingredients are ginger, garlic and chilly which are the holy trinity of chinese cooking! Here are the recipes for these dishes.

GOBHI (cauliflower) MANCHURIAN

Ingredients:

one medium sized cauliflower, break the florets by hand

one onion diced into 1/2 inch squares

one green capsicum diced into 1/2 inch squares

2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 inch ginger finely chopped

2-3 green chillies finely chopped

3 table spoons cornflour

1-2 table spoon dark soy sauce

1 table spoon chilly sauce (green chilly sauce is ideal)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

black pepper and salt to taste

oil for frying

Recipe:

Mix water with cornflour enough to make a smooth thin paste. Add some pepper and salt. Gently coat the cauliflower florets in the cornflour paste and deep fry. Keep the fried cauliflower aside. In a wok or a pan add 2 table spoon oil. add ginger, garlic and chilly and fry for a few second then add onions and capsicum and stir fry till they soften gently. now add the soy sauce, chilly sauce and vinegar and add some water to make a gravy. add 2 table spoons of the cornflour paste to this gravy. cornflour will help thicken the gravy. Now add the cauliflower and season with pepper & salt of required. Serve hot.

Tip: add toasted sesame seed if you prefer the taste. 

I used a very thin cornflour paste as we don't prefer a thick coating on the florets. Try both ways and decide what suits your taste buds the most!

VEG STEAMED WONTONS

Ingredients:

wonton wrappers

2 cloves of garlic grated

1/2 inch ginger grated

1 green chilly finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage (red and green)

1 carrot finely julienne 

optional bean sprouts

soy sauce to taste

oil for stir fry

for potato filling add one boiled potato

Recipe:

Heat the oil in a wok or pan. add ginger, chilly and garlic. Stir fry the veggies in oil for 1-2 minutes. add soy sauce and mash the potato in for potato filling at this stage. cool the veggie fillings. Place the filling in the centre of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half and stick both sides together by lightly brushing some water. Pinch together the corners of the folded side, leaving the other side opened and fanned out as shown in the pictures above. You can fold the wontons in any way you prefer. Steam the wontons in a bamboo steamer for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot with sweet chilly sauce.

VEG FRIED RICE

Ingredients:

1 cup rice (of your choice)

1 carrot julienne

1 green capsicum finely sliced

1 onion finely sliced

1 cup finely sliced green cabbage

1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1-2 green chillies finely chopped

handful of chopped coriander (widely used in chinese cooking)

Soy sauce to taste

1 table spoon white vinegar

1 table spoon green chilly sauce

oil for stir fry

Recipe:

Boil rice in water until just done. It should not be over cooked. Heat oil in a wok. Add garlic and chilly. Sauté the onions. Add the vegetables and stir fry for 5-7 minutes. Add soy sauce, chilly sauce and vinegar. Add the cooked rice and mix well. cover and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the chopped coriander and serve hot.

Tips: add mushrooms and bean sprouts for more nutrition and taste. 

Bring out your chopsticks and enjoy an oriental feast packed with flavour the Indian way!