Egg Fried Rice and Gobi Manchurian

Of late, I have started realising the demerits of being abroad. First thing that comes screaming is "INDIAN FOOD". Oh yes, we do have a lots of Indian restaurants here, but none of them serve the dishes in their original spiced versions. (Looks like the chefs have lost the cook-books!) And whenever I order for a (read: in quotes) spicy dish, I invariably find fresh green chillies sticking out of my bowl. Phew...

So my little kitchen often transforms into Chinese, Tandoori, South-Indian restaurants, desperately trying to recreate the magics. The following is one such attempt turned quite successful. Now enough of my rambling, over to our recipe!

What we need:
Eggs - 3 to 4
Rice - 1 Cup, cooked
Onion, medium sized - 1, sliced
Green chillies - 2 to 3, finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tbsp.
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp.
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - as needed

How to do:
1. Cook the rice and set aside. The grains of the rice should be separate.
2. Break the eggs in a separate bowl and beat them well. Add a little salt and mix well. Set it aside.
3. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan. Add onion, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste.
4. Fry well till the onion turns soft.Now add pepper powder, salt.
5. Slowly add the beaten eggs, and keep stirring. Scramble them and keep mixing till the eggs are cooked and broken.
6. Now add the rice and mix gently. Add soya sauce and mix well. Check and adjust the seasoning and remove from flame.

Note: You can add chopped beans, carrot to make it more colorful and nutritious.

Gobi Manchurian

Indian version of Cauliflower Manchurian
Serves 2

What we need:
Cauliflower, medium sized - 1
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato paste - 2 tbsp.
Tomato sauce or ketchup - 1 tbsp. Optional
Garlic - 3 to 4 pods, minced
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp.
Green onions (Spring Onions) - 3 to 4 sprigs
Green Chillies - 2 to 3, minced
Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp.
Corn flour - 2 tbsp. heaped
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 to 3 tbsp.
Water - as needed

For the batter:
Corn flour - 5 tbsp. heaped
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Oil - 6 to 7 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed

How to do:

Part 1:
1. Pick the cauliflower into medium sized florets and wash them well. Drain and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix corn flour, chilli powder, salt. Add water slowly to make batter. The consistency should almost be like a dosa batter.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan. Dip the florets into the batter and drop in the oil. Fry well till they turn golden brown. Do not coat the florets with too much batter, as it will become soggy in the gravy.
4. Drain in a kitchen towel and set aside.

Part 2:
1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the onions, green chillies and garlic. Add salt and fry well till the onions turn soft.
2. Add the tomato paste, tomato ketchup (optional) and chilli powder. Mix well.
3. Add half of the spring onions, soya sauce. Now add half a cup of water.
4. Mix 2 tbsp. of corn flour with little water and make a paste. Take care that all the lumps are dissolved.
5. Add this to the boiling gravy, and keep stirring. Now the gravy will start to thicken.
6. Add the fried Cauliflower florets and coat them evenly with the mixture.

Garnish with the remaining spring onions.

Note: For dinner parties, you can make part 1 and part 2 before hand and leave them aside. When you are ready to serve, heat the mixture a little, add the florets, mix well and serve immediately.

To relish this as a gravy, in step 3, add 2 cups of water.

Serve together Egg Fried rice and Gobi Manchurian and earn a pat-on-the-shoulder from your loved ones! :)