This spicy, tangy Indo-Chinese recipe for Mushroom Manchurian is sure to please both vegetarians and vegans alike. White button mushrooms are battered and shallow-fried to crispy perfection before being tossed with spring onions, bell peppers, herbs, spices and a delightfully zingy sauce.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Appetizers, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Indo Chinese

Ingredients

  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons cornflour ((cornstarch))
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (or freshly crushed black pepper)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • ⅓ cup water (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (or add as required)
  • salt (as required)
  • 250 grams white button mushrooms
  • oil (as required for deep frying or shallow frying)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons oil
  • ⅓ cup spring onions ((finely chopped spring onion whites) or 3 to 4 small-sized scallions - reserve the greens for garnish)
  • 2 to 3 green chilies (- finely chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons garlic (- finely chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons ginger (- finely chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon celery (- finely chopped, optional)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (or crushed black pepper)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or add as needed)
  • 1 bell pepper ((small to medium-sized), green or red or yellow sliced, diced or chopped)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Preparing mushrooms and making batter

  1. Take all the ingredients for making the batter in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add ⅓ cup water and make a smooth batter. Not too thick nor too thin.
  3. Rinse the mushrooms in water a few times. Drain all of the water. Halve the mushrooms or quarter them if they are large. Trim off a small portion of the stalks and discard them.
  4. Heat oil for deep frying or shallo frying as needed in a wok or kadai.
  5. Let the oil become medium hot. Dip the mushroom in the batter evenly all over. Place them carefully and gently in the oil.
  6. Fry them till golden brown and crisp. When one side looks firm and light golden, turn over each mushroom piece and fry the second side. Turning over as needed fry the mushrooms until crispy and golden.
  7. Keep the fried mushrooms aside.

Making mushroom manchurian

  1. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan or wok. Add the spring onion whites and stir fry them for a minute on a medium heat.
  2. Now add the chopped celery, green chili, ginger, garlic and some of the spring onion greens.
  3. Stir fry these also for a minute on a medium heat.
  4. Add the black pepper, salt, sugar and soy sauce.
  5. Mix well. Add the fried mushroom to this sauce.
  6. Stir so that the sauce coats the mushroom well
  7. Serve dry Mushroom Manchurian hot garnished with chopped spring onion greens and celery.

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.