How about Air Frying Gobi(Cauliflower) Manchurian

This very simple Healthy No fry Baked Gobi Manchurian recipe has all of the taste and not of the unhealthy oil of a typical Gobi Manchurian. Today I’m sharing my version of Gobi Manchurian, an Indo-Chinese fusion of battered, fried cauliflower florets in a spicy, sticky sauce that’s commonly eaten in India.
Gobi Manchurian is my winter favorite, not only Cauliflower Manchurian but many Into-chinese recipes are my favorites to make during winter. You will be glad to hear that this recipes gives the restaurant style dry Gobi Manchurian.
Since Manchurian is our family favorite, specially my son Dhruv loves all Indo-chinese food so instead of frying the fritters, I batter and roast them (like Cauliflower Buffalo Wings) And the Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower
This cooking method is nice and easy; all the cauliflower roasts in one batch in the oven, and the flavorful sauce comes together while the cauliflower roasts. The sauce is a little piquant, definitely a nice melding of Indian and Chinese flavors. Feel free to adjust the heat level by adding more or less hot sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, and hot chili powder.
Gobi manchurian is an Indian Chinese fried cauliflower food item popular in India. Gobi Manchurian is the result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian tastes. It is believed to have been originally developed by a small Chinese community which lived in Kolkata for a century. Wikipedia Source
In its two-stage preparation, the first stage requires preparing a spiced corn flour batter(which I customize to my liking by using Chickpea and Rice Flour), dipping cauliflower florets in it and deep frying them. In the second stage, the deep fried florets are sautéed with chopped onion, capsicum, garlic, etc., in soy and chili sauce.
There are two different variants of gobi Manchurian, dry and with gravy. Both variants are prepared by using common ingredients like cauliflower, corn flour, maida flour, spring onion, capsicum, soy sauce, chili sauce, minced garlic, ground pepper, etc. and has typical garnish of spring onion. Its taste can vary from mild spicy to hot and fiery based on the recipe and personal preference.
Gobi manchurian dry
It has cauliflower fritters in comparatively dry sauce like texture and is typically served and enjoyed as a snack or starter with tomato ketchup as dipping sauce. It is popular among alcohol drinkers as a bar snack and can be found in almost all bar restaurants.

Gobi manchurian gravy
It has cauliflower fritters in a thick soup like spicy gravy curry made of corn flour. It is generally served with varieties of rice dishes like steamed rice, Chinese fried rice, Szechuan fried rice, etc. in main course.
Below is the video instructions for making the Gobi Manchurian using an Air fryer.

Following is the list of ingredients you will need to prepare the Gobi Manchurian.
1 head medium sized cauliflower (broken into medium-sized florets, washed)
oil for greasing
2 tbsp chopped spring onion greens , for garnishing
For the batter:
1/2 cup Chickpea flour (Besan) or use plain flour
1/4 cup Rice flour(corn starch also works great in place of rice flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder – optional but recommended for baking option
Paprika to taste
1/4 tsp Turmeric for the color as air frying the manchurian will bring dull color
Salt Pepper to aste
about 3/4 cup water or as needed
For the sauce:
1/2 cup Tomato puree or sweet & sour sauce (tomato ketchup can be used)
1 tbsp red chilli or hot sauce*
2-3 tbsp soy sauce or 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp garlic , minced (or paste)
1 tbsp ginger , minced (or paste)
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped, if available (Celery salt can be used as well)
1/4 cup Spring onion, finely chopped, if desired
1 tbsp corn syrup or corn starch dissolve with water (optional)-Arrowroot powder can be used to enhance the taste and texture of gravy and also good for heath.
salt if needed only
The preparation for making Gobi Manchurian can be read below.
Mix together all the ingredients for the batter in a bowl. Add the water carefully so that batter has a reasonably thick coating consistency.
Preheat the air fryer at 350F for 3 minutes or oven at 350F.
Mix cauliflower florets with prepared batter and make sure they’re well coated with the batter. Carefully drop the batter coated florets, as one “lump” into the air fryer pan in a single layer or on the baking tray for the oven. Spray or grease batter coated cauliflower florets with oil. Bake or Air fry for about 15 minutes shaking in between after about 8 minutes, till they’re crisp and a nice brown in colour. Remove from the air fryer pan when done and follow the same procedure for the remaining batch.
Do this air frying no more than about half an hour before serving, as these cauliflower fritters tend to lose their crispness after a while.
To keep them crispy for later use, I turn on my toaster oven on lowest heat and spread all the fritters in a single layer and it stays crispy anytime you take them out.
For making the sauce:
Take medium size of pan and heat of oil for making sauce.
When the oil is hot enough, add spring onion followed by ginger, garlic and celery. Add salt.
Sauté all above ingredients till oil separates.
In mean while mix corn starch with 1/4 cup of water and keep aside.
Add Tomato Sauce, chili & soy sauce. Cook for another minute or so.
Add corn starch mixture to the sauce and cook for another minute or so. Turn off the stove and keep the sauce on side.
This sauce should be a bit on the thicker side. If you feel it is too thick, you may add a couple of spoons of water to thin it down slightly, before taking the sauce off the stove.
I have seen “Manchurian” dishes where the sauce is thick and just coats the dumplings and some where the sauce is a little thinner and more like gravy.
To serve:
I prefer to mix cauliflower with sauce right before serving.
Place the fried cauliflower dumplings in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over the dumplings evenly covering them completely. Garnish with chopped spring onion greens and serve warm, with noodles or rice.
Another way to serve is mix the cauliflower florets with the sauce into the pan and serve immediately.
This recipe serves 4.