Idly Manchurian

Idly Manchurian is a popular Indo - Chinese appetizer / snack. Idly is a south Indian Breakfast dish. This recipe is the best way to use left over idlies. It is easy to make and gets finished the moment you serve. Idlies are cut into squares , they are dipped in batter and stir fried in a pan. Then they are popped in the oven for a quick ten minutes to retain crispy outer coating. Next they are tossed along with tangy onion, bell pepper soy sauce gravy.

Ingredients

• 4 Idlies (steamed , cooled and cut into squares. Left over idlies are best to use for this recipe since they don't crumble when you stir fry. In case if you are using freshly steamed idlies, place the idlies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Let them cool and then proceed with the making )
• 2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil for stir frying

 

For the Batter

• 2 Tablespoon Corn Flour
• 2 Tablespoon All purpose Flour / Maida
• 1/2 Teaspoon Fresh Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1/2 Teaspoon Red Chilli powder ( my fried idlies were mildly spiced. Increase red chilli powder, if you like it spicier )
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 3 Tablespoon Water
• Orange food Color ( optional ; I used wilton orange color; If its not for photographs, I wouldn't use color at all; )

                             


                              

For the Gravy

• 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 4 Garlic cloves chopped finely
• 1/2 Inch Ginger piece chopped finely
• 1 Medium onion diced in to big chunks
• 1/2 Green Bell pepper diced
• 1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce
• 1/2  Teaspoon Ground Black pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Spring Onion Greens chopped finely

Directions

1.  If you are using freshly steamed idlies for this dish, pop them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you are chopping / doing the prep for this dish. I made fresh idlies. So I put them in the refrigerator

                                 

2. Prepare the batter : In a bowl, mix together corn flour, all purpose flour/ maida, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and water. Mix everything together to thick batter. Batter should not be runny. It should be quite thick

                                


                                



3. In a frying pan, heat 1 or 2 tablespoon oil. When the oil is hot, Dip idly pieces in the batter we prepared at step number 2 and drop the batter coated idly in the oil/pan. I added almost 10 to 12 pieces of idly to the pan at once

                              

                              

4.  Keep the flame in medium / low and let the idly pieces get stir fried. I left them on low flame since I was chopping the other ingredients for the dish. Stir them once in a while so that they get stir fried on all sides. Remove them from the pan when all sides are roasted and when you don't see any raw batter over the idlies. Spread the stir fried idlies in a cookies sheet

5. Dip rest of the idly pieces in batter and stir fry them




6. Once you are done with stir frying all the idly pieces, place them in a cookie sheet and transfer the cookie sheet to the oven and grill the idly pieces for 10 minutes. If your oven does not have grill mode, you can preheat the oven to 220 C in the Bake Mode and then place the cookie sheet inside. Let the idly pieces get heated for 3 to 4 minutes. This is done to retain their crispyness. You can use 'Broil' mode instead of 'Bake Mode' if your oven has broil option. The idea is to roast the idly pieces in high heat for 3 to 4 minutes so that they don't turn soggy once mixed with sauce

                                

                               


7.  Prepare the sauce : In the same frying pan, heat sesame seed oil. Keep the flame on high and make sure you keep all the ingredients ready for the sauce.  When the oil is hot, add chopped ginger, garlic and sauté for a minute

                                     


8. Next add chopped onion and stir fry on high flame for few seconds. Then add green bell peppers and stir fry. You need to do everything quickly on high flame

9. Now reduce the flame to low, add soy sauce, tomato sauce, ground black pepper and mix everything together

                               


10. Add the fried idly pieces and combine everything together. Check for salt and add if required

11. Garnish with chopped spring onion greens and serve hot

12. In case if you are planning to serve it later, do not mix fried idlies with sauce. Keep them separate. At the time of serving, reheat the idly pieces in the oven quickly for 2 to 3 minutes and then toss them in the sauce.