I have long been a fan of Indian Chinese food. To my understanding, its origins are based on food cooked by Chinese migrants to India designed for the local Indian palate. So it tends to be spicy but also using soy sauce/vinegar and cooked quickly in a wok rather than the more typical Indian way of cooking slowly over a long period of time. Although it's called Hakka cuisine in India, it bears little resemblance to the cuisine of the Hakka Chinese.
The occasional dish that you would be seen offered in Indian restaurants in the UK but was never ordered as we were there for the curry! In a few trips to India and Sri Lanka, I experienced it more and enjoyed it immensely but never really sought it out when back in the West. When I lived in Trinidad, there was a restaurant called Hakka which served this kind of food. It was so good that we'd eat there almost every week. Moving back to Houston, I managed to find a couple of restaurants that make this style of food and we occasionally frequent them.
Now that we've been stuck at home I thought I would explore how to cook this stuff at home and have found it surprisingly easy. So I thought I'd share my recipes as I try them out. Please do add your own if you have them.
First pick your protein or vegetable and cook. You can grill or fry chicken or other vegetables. I don't worry about trying to get too much flavour as the sauce/gravy has all the punch. I have made this with tofu cubes marinated in some garlic powder, salt and corn starch and oven baked. You can also make a simple batter and coat/deep fry chicken or pork chunks. A common version is to make this with battered fried cauliflower florets or balls/fritters of diced vegetables.
Manchurian gravy
1/2 onion chopped (can use the white parts of spring onions)
1/2 green pepper chopped
1/4 cup celery chopped
thumb sized piece of ginger chopped
3+ green chillies chopped
5+ cloves of garlic chopped (the more the better)
Add oil to a hot wok and sauté onions, green pepper & celery until the onions are translucent (tip: Kroger does a meal starter in the frozen veg section which has chopped onions, pepper and celery so you can just use this). Then add the garlic, ginger and chillies and sauté for a couple seconds.
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs vinegar (any kind, I use Chinese black)
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs chilli paste (I use sambal olek but you can use sriracha)
Add the sauces above and turn the heat down to medium and cook for a little bit. Once the ketchup starts to caramelize on the sides of the wok, add 2 cups of stock or water. Mix everything to deglaze the wok and bring back to the boil.
2tbs corn starch
3tbs water
Make a slurry with the corn starch and water and add little by little (maybe a third at a time), mixing well into the wok resulting in a shiny gravy sauce. Make sure it bubbles, taste and season - I use the low sodium soy sauce and ended up adding a little more. Then toss in your protein/veg, make sure they're coated by the sauce and you're done. Serve with steamed or fried rice.
This version which I just had for lunch was made with eggplant and mushrooms.
The occasional dish that you would be seen offered in Indian restaurants in the UK but was never ordered as we were there for the curry! In a few trips to India and Sri Lanka, I experienced it more and enjoyed it immensely but never really sought it out when back in the West. When I lived in Trinidad, there was a restaurant called Hakka which served this kind of food. It was so good that we'd eat there almost every week. Moving back to Houston, I managed to find a couple of restaurants that make this style of food and we occasionally frequent them.
Now that we've been stuck at home I thought I would explore how to cook this stuff at home and have found it surprisingly easy. So I thought I'd share my recipes as I try them out. Please do add your own if you have them.
First pick your protein or vegetable and cook. You can grill or fry chicken or other vegetables. I don't worry about trying to get too much flavour as the sauce/gravy has all the punch. I have made this with tofu cubes marinated in some garlic powder, salt and corn starch and oven baked. You can also make a simple batter and coat/deep fry chicken or pork chunks. A common version is to make this with battered fried cauliflower florets or balls/fritters of diced vegetables.
Manchurian gravy
1/2 onion chopped (can use the white parts of spring onions)
1/2 green pepper chopped
1/4 cup celery chopped
thumb sized piece of ginger chopped
3+ green chillies chopped
5+ cloves of garlic chopped (the more the better)
Add oil to a hot wok and sauté onions, green pepper & celery until the onions are translucent (tip: Kroger does a meal starter in the frozen veg section which has chopped onions, pepper and celery so you can just use this). Then add the garlic, ginger and chillies and sauté for a couple seconds.
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs vinegar (any kind, I use Chinese black)
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs chilli paste (I use sambal olek but you can use sriracha)
Add the sauces above and turn the heat down to medium and cook for a little bit. Once the ketchup starts to caramelize on the sides of the wok, add 2 cups of stock or water. Mix everything to deglaze the wok and bring back to the boil.
2tbs corn starch
3tbs water
Make a slurry with the corn starch and water and add little by little (maybe a third at a time), mixing well into the wok resulting in a shiny gravy sauce. Make sure it bubbles, taste and season - I use the low sodium soy sauce and ended up adding a little more. Then toss in your protein/veg, make sure they're coated by the sauce and you're done. Serve with steamed or fried rice.
This version which I just had for lunch was made with eggplant and mushrooms.
