Manchurian is a type of dish that is not actually from Manchuria in China but is an
Indo-Chinese fusion dish invented in India.
It was made by a chef called Nelson Wang in 1975 in a cricket club in Mumbai after being asked by a customer to make something new that was not on the menu. It was originally made with chicken mince that was shaped into balls with Indian spices and the sauce was made using soya sauce.
Nowadays a lot on Indian restaurants have different variations which can include meat or vegetables such as cauliflower.
I have used Textured Vegetable Protein or TVP which can be bought from an Indian supermarket or health food shop to make “Neatballs”. TVP is made from defatted soya flour, and it is high in protein as well as being low in fat and versatile. They are better for you than meat and hence the term “Neatball”
This makes approximately 36 Manchurian Neatballs and makes 8-9 servings. I have served these in wholemeal or gluten-free pitta with a yoghurt and mint sauce and chopped lettuce but feel free to eat this with brown rice instead or in wraps.
Ingredients
The Neatballs:
2 cups TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)
1 cup whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1.5 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (omit if cooking for kids)
1.5 tsp cumin powder
1.5 tsp coriander powder
1.5 teaspoon fennel powder
1.5 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with 6 tbsp water and left to thicken for 10 minutes (2 flax eggs)
Salt to taste
The Sauce:
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1-inch piece of ginger minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 green chillis diced finely
2 bell peppers diced
1 325g tin of sweetcorn, drained and rinsed
¼ cup tomato ketchup (I used a reduced salt and sugar version)
¼ cup reduced salt soya sauce or tamari sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons of water to make a slurry
Chopped coriander to garnish
The yoghurt-mint sauce
1 cup plant-based yoghurt (I used unsweetened soya yoghurt)
1 tsps garlic powder
2 tsps dried mint
Salt to taste
To serve
Wholemeal or gluten-free pitta
Shredded lettuce
Instructions:
Rehydrate the TVP:
In a bowl, pour boiling water over the TVP until it is submerged and let it sit for 10 minutes until it absorbs the liquid and softens. Drain any excess water and squeeze out extra moisture.
Make the Neatball Mixture:
In a large bowl, mix the rehydrated TVP with 5 minced garlic cloves, 1 inch piece ginger grated, coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, ground black pepper, and salt to taste.
Add the flax egg (flaxseed meal mixed with water) and the wholewheat or gluten-free flour to help bind the mixture.
Mix everything thoroughly.
Shape the Neatballs:
With wet hands, take small portions of the mixture and roll them into 2 cm ball-sized “neatballs”.
Place the neatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I made approximately 36 balls. You can put the meatballs in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up and they can also be frozen for later use.
Cook the Neatballs
Preheat your oven to 190°C (375F). Baste the neatballs on the top side with water and bake the meatballs for 14-16 minutes, turning halfway through, (basting the other side of the neatballs with water) until they are golden brown and firm. (These can also made in an air-fryer at the same temperature using the same method).
Prepare the Sauce.
Heat a large casserole dish on your stove and when hot, add the diced onion.
Cook the onion until soft adding small splashes of vegetable stock to stop it from sticking at the bottom.
Add the green chilli (add this at the end of cooking for kids), ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant (adding splashes of vegetable stock again to prevent sticking).
Now add the sauce ingredients to the casserole dish which include the ketchup, tomato paste, rice wine vinegar, Kashmiri chilli powder, soya sauce and rest of the vegetable stock.
Add the pepper to the casserole dish and cook for 5 minutes in the sauce.
Whilst the pepper is cooking, put the sweetcorn in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high power for 3 minutes.
After 5 minutes of cooking, add the corn-starch slurry to the dish and mix well.
Add the Neatballs when done and the sweetcorn and gently mix the dish being careful not to break up the neatballs.
Give the dish a try and adjust the seasoning and garnish with fresh coriander (You may need to add some boiling water if the sauce is too thick for your liking).
Make the yoghurt-mint sauce
Mix all the yoghurt-sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
Serve
Toast a pitta and within the pocket of the pitta, brush it with the yoghurt-sauce, fill it with some lettuce and add 4-5 meatballs with some of the accompanying sauce and dig in!
Nutritional info:
Each pitta with 4 meatballs and 2 tbsps. of yoghurt sauce is 569 calories with 48 grams of protein, 18 grams of fibre, 6 grams of fat but only 1 gram of saturated fat.