Crispy dry baby corn manchurian recipe at home step by step

Crispy dry baby corn manchurian recipe at home step by step – An easy to make simply delicious, crispy, dry baby corn manchurian recipe cooked in a slightly spicy & sweet Chinese sauce based gravy. Perfect to serve as an evening snack or starter/appetizer before dinner. Described with simple step by step pictures.

Baby corn manchurian is one of the most delicious Indian-Chinese-style veg snacks/starter prepared with fried baby corn tossed in a perfect mixture of red chilli sauce, tomato sauce, and soya sauce, based gravy with salt and chilli flakes seasoning. This Baby corn dish is easily available in Indian street-side fast food stalls to multi-cuisine restaurants. 

I basically prepare this manchurian recipe for my kid who loves the crunch of baby corn intact in the gravy. Because he mostly loves baby corn as a starter. Though you can add little water to prepare manchurian gravy for serving as a side dish with Chinese fried rice or noodles.

This baby corn Manchuria is a very simple and easy starter-type dish(as dry and crispy) that can be quickly made at home. Just start making this recipe by blanching the small pieces of baby corn in water, coated with maida-corn flour to fry & sautéed, or tossing in different Chinese sauces(chili sauce& tomato sauce) and seasoning with salt and pepper. Even I use capsicum and onion too for making it more colorful and of course for adding some more crunch too. 

Baby corn is itself considered a healthy vegetable. However, due to deep frying and tossing in manchurian sauce, this baby corn recipe couldn’t maintain that theory to make it healthy anymore. However, baking or air frying the baby corn without oil can reduce the calories but could not make it healthy for later tossing in sauce.

In Bangalore, Manchurians are a very common starter in all street-side small food corners and they make different types of manchurian recipes including this baby corn recipe. Just after coming to Bangalore, mostly at the weekend my husband and I usually visit those roadside eateries for some chatpata evening snacks. Though I’m pure non-vegetarian but their gobi and baby corn Manchurians made me happy. Till then I’m a huge fan of this starter and then my kid for its crispy . 

But today I’ve applied my own method for making this recipe. I hope that will help you a lot to easily make it at home.

Try this baby corn Manchurian at home and if you enjoy my cooking, so don’t forget to share your valuable feedback about this recipe with me in the comment section below.

You may try my sweet corn soup recipe or veg momos recipe too as a good veg appetizer too. Even you can have it with some of my indo chinese veg recipes like veg fried rice, and veg noddles.

How to make crispy dry baby corn manchurian recipe

Baby corn cutting method

• Thoroughly wash the baby corn(≈ 200g) in running water & make it ready by cutting diagonally(as shown in the picture below) or ring-wise.

Blanch Baby corn

• Take a pan with 2+½ cups of water and 1 tsp of salt and make it boil.

• When the water starts boiling add the corn to it and leave it for 5 mins.

• After 5 mins immediately strain the baby corns from the water and keep it in a mixing bowl.

Coating baby corn

• Add 3 tbsp cornflour, 3 tbsp maida, 1 tsp pepper powder, and 1/4 tsp salt to the blanched baby corn.
• Mix it well with the help of a spoon or just toss the corn in these dry ingredients.
• Don’t add water in this step.

• Once the baby corns coated well in it then keep it aside.

Frying baby corn

• Heat a pan on high, once the pan gets hot, add any vegetable oil(250 ml) for frying.

• When the oil gets hot then add the coated baby corn in hot oil, and fry it.

• While frying,  don’t touch the corn for 1 min, otherwise, its coating will come out.

• After 1 min of frying, gently stir the baby corn and fry it until gets nice golden brown & crisp from both sides. As shown in the pic below.
• Remove it from the pan.
• In the same way, fry all the coated baby corn.

Making manchurian sauce

• In a mixing bowl, take 3 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tbsp red chilli sauce, 3/4 tsp chilli flakes/chilli powder & 1 tsp soya sauce. Mix it well.
• Then add 1 tsp black pepper and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix it and Manchurian sauce is ready, keep it aside.

• Take the same pan(used for frying corn), keeping 3 tbsp oil, and remove the rest of the oil from the pan.

Making baby corn manchurian

• Heat the pan on high, and add 2 tsp chopped garlic and 1/2 tsp chopped ginger to the pan.
• Fry it for 10-15 secs.
• Then add 1 tbsp chopped spring onion bulbs or 1 tbsp finely chopped onion. Fry it for 30 secs.

• Add cube-cut onion(from 2 medium-sized onion), fry for a few secs.
• Then add the cube-cut capsicum(1 medium-sized onion) to the pan. Toss or stir fry it for almost 1 min.

• Add the Manchurian sauce to the pan and mix it well with veggies.

• Then add 2 green chilies(finely cut) and stir fry or toss them well for 1 to 2 mins.

• Lastly, add 1/2 tsp of sugar to remove the tanginess and balance the sweetness of the ketchup.
• Though you may skip this step if don’t like to add sugar.

• In the meantime, in a bowl, take 2 tbsp cornflour with 1/2 cup(or 125 ml) water. Mix it well.

• Immediately add this cornflour added water to the pan and mix it well.
• Let the manchurian gravy starts boiling.

• Once the gravy starts boiling add the fried baby corn to it & nicely coat it with the gravy.

• Stir fry or toss the baby corn for 30 secs into the gravy and turn off the heat.
• Lastly, add 2 tbsp of chopped spring onion over the gravy and mix it well.
• Baby corn manchurian is ready to serve.

Tips about this recipe

• If you don’t get baby corn in the local shops or markets. You may order it from online vegetable delivery apps, most of the time I did it so.
• For serving it as a side dish make its gravy and that needs to add a little more water and cornflour. Even you may check how I make my Chili chicken gravy.
• But to intact, the crunch in baby corn and veggies, don’t cook it for a long time(into the gravy).
• As it is a very quick recipe, so keep all ingredients ready in front of your hands while preparing this dish.
• Like all other Chinese recipes, we follow the same tossing or quick stir fry method.
• Though I use a normal nonstick pan. However, you may use a wok or thin bottom pan.
• Though manchurian is a sweet version of chilli baby corn. However, I’ve used little more chili in it to make it a little spicy. However, you may add chilies as per your requirement.