Spicy, crispy, vegan Gobi 65 is a fried cauliflower appetizer or snack that everyone will love. Crunchy and savory cauliflower 65 is perfect to serve with tomato ketchup, red chili sauce, chutneys, or your favorite condiment to dip.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Hyderabadi, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 350 grams cauliflower ((gobi) or 3 cups small to medium cauliflower florets)
  • hot water (as required - for covering gobi florets)
  • 4 dry red chilies (or Kashmiri red chillies with seeds removed - soaked in ¼ cup hot water)
  • 1.5 teaspoons chopped garlic (or 5 to 6 medium-sized cloves)
  • 1.5 teaspoons chopped ginger (or 1 to 1.5 inches ginger)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons water (or as required - for blending)
  • 6 tablespoons gram flour ((besan) - sub with chickpea flour instead)
  • 4 tablespoons Rice Flour
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder ((ground coriander))
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice (or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
  • ⅓ cup water (or as needed)
  • salt (as required)
  • 7 to 8 tablespoons oil (or as needed)
  • 2 teaspoons oil (or 2 tsp of the fried leftover oil)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onions (or spring onion whites or 1 small onion)
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic (or 3 to 4 medium garlic cloves)
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or 1 inch ginger)
  • 3 to 4 green chilies (- slit)
  • 2 to 3 dry red chilies (- broken and seeds removed)
  • 5 to 6 curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))
  • 1 to 2 pinches salt (or add as per taste)
  • 1 to 2 pinches castor sugar (or superfine sugar (finely granulated), brown sugar or powdered sugar; add as per taste (optional))

Method

Preparation

  1. Chop the cauliflower in small pieces. Rinse them very well and keep in a bowl.
  2. Now add enough hot water so that all the florets are covered. Cover and blanch the florets for 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. In a small bowl, add ¼ cup warm or hot water and soak 4 dry red chilies in it for 15 minutes.
  4. In a small grinder jar or chutney grinder, add 1.5 tsp chopped garlic and 1.5 tsp roughly chopped ginger.
  5. Add the soaked red chilies.
  6. Add 1 to 2 tablespoon water or as needed and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Making Marination

  1. Drain the cauliflower florets of all the water very well and take them in a mixing bowl or pan.
  2. Add the red paste. Mix very well.
  3. Then add gram flour, rice flour and corn starch.
  4. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder.
  5. Also add ½ to 1 tsp lemon juice and ⅓ cup water.
  6. Next add salt. Combine and mix everything very well. The batter should coat the cauliflower pieces and must not be runny or thin.
  7. If the mixture looks dry, doughy, sprinkle a few tablespoons of water and mix. If the batter drips from the florets or is runny or thin, add a few tablespoons of gram flour or chickpea flour.
  8. Cover and allow to marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.

Frying Marinated Cauliflower

  1. Heat oil in a kadai (wok) or a frying pan. When the oil becomes medium hot, use a spoon to carefully place the cauliflower florets in the hot oil. Ensure that you do not overcrowd the pan, so you will have fry in batches.
  2. The oil should be medium hot at about 350 to 356 degrees Fahrenheit (175 to 180 degrees Celsius).
  3. Fry one side and when it becomes crisp, turn over with a slotted spoon and fry the other side.
  4. Fry them evenly, until they are golden and crisp turning them as needed. Fry them in batches.
  5. With a slotted spoon, remove the fried cauliflower florets and place them on kitchen paper towels to absorb extra oil. Work in batches this way.

Making Tempering

  1. Now remove the extra oil from the kadai and keep 2 teaspoon oil in it or add fresh 2 teaspoon oil in another pan. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and crackle them. Then add 2 to 3 dry red chilies. Fry until the dry red chilies change color and become a darker shade of red.
  2. Next add ¼ cup chopped onions, 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger and 5 to 6 curry leaves.
  3. Stir and sauté until the onions turn translucent and are softened.
  4. Then add one to pinches of salt or add as per taste. You can also add a pinch or two of castor sugar. Mix well.
  5. Add the fried cauliflower florets. Switch off the heat.
  6. Toss and stir the whole mixture. Add chopped coriander leaves.

Serving Suggestions

  1. Serve gobi 65 as is or pair with Coconut Chutney, Coriander Chutney or Mint Chutney or even tomato ketchup. You can also serve with some Roti or Bread.

Storage

  1. Gobi 65 tastes best when eaten right after being prepared. But you can keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 to 2 days.
  2. While serving later, reheat by baking in an oven for about 5 to 10 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.