Posts Tagged ‘Indo-Chinese’
Here’s another example of a Indo-Chinese dish-one that fuses the flavors of both Indian and Chinese cuisine. This is a stir-fry dish, so make sure to have all your ingredients prepped and ready before cooking. The recipe for the paneer can be found here (3/4 gallon of whole milk makes approximately 1 pound of paneer). Also make sure to look for a variety of ketchup that is naturally sweetened.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons light muscavado raw sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, julienned
- 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1/2 yellow pepper, julienned
- Fine sea salt to taste
- 2 fresno chilis, sliced into rings
Directions:
- Spray a flat griddle pan with non-stick cooking spray. When hot, brown both sides of paneer cubes. Set aside.
- Whisk together soy sauce, pepper, ketchup, raw sugar, and corn starch with 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat oil. Add in onion, garlic, peppers, and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring over high heat until vegetables become translucent but still hold their shape. Add in paneer and sauce. Stir gently on low heat until thick (this takes a minute or so). Can be served with brown basmati or jasmine rice. Enjoy!
I have to say Indo-Chinese cuisine is by far my most favorite style of cooking, if I had to name one. This recipe is a take on classic “Cauliflower Manchurian”, which are cauliflower florets with a crispy chickpea flour crust tossed with a sweet and spicy sauce. The fusion of Indian and Chinese flavors is simply magical. Here I turned the cauliflowers into a cake and slathered the sauce on top.
Ingredients:
- 1 head cauliflower, steamed
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chili paste or to taste ( I used Sambal Oelek)
- 3 tablespoons Ponzu soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon light muscavado sugar
Directions:
- Squeeze out all excess moisture from steamed cauliflower when cool. Mix with scallions, flour, 1 tablespoon of oil, salt (go easy on the salt as there is soy sauce in the sauce) , and pepper until a rough dough-like consistency forms.
- Flatten this mixture onto dry skillet and turn up heat to medium. Let crisp on one side for a few minutes. After a few minutes, drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil around the edges and press down to crisp.
- In the meantime, combine the rest of the ingredients with one cup water into a small sauce pot and let simmer for a few minutes or until thick. Turn off heat and let stand.
- Spoon remaining one tablespoon of oil over top side of cauliflower cake and flip over. Press down with large spatula to crisp. Do this a few times over 4 to 5 minutes or until this side is crisp. (If cake is turning too brown, lower heat.) Keep flipping and pressing until outside is crisp and the rawness of the chickpea flour is gone. Drizzle over sauce and enjoy!
