Sep 5, 2011

Gobi 65

What is the one food that comes to your mind immediately when you think of restaurant favorites? Think about it - what is it that you order every time you walk into your favorite restaurant? Or you've have had like a million times already but still look forward to it? Or like me, you've had a million times already but can't have it anymore since you moved out of the place? 

That's what happened to me. This dish here Gobi 65 used to be on my 'always order' list - whether I eat it or take out from a restaurant in Salem called Argees. And then, they have a way to pack this when ordering take out. The fried Gobi 65 pieces are first packed in green banana leaves. And covered with newspaper. And then another layer of leaves around it with crisp onions, bell peppers and green chillies and a slice of lemon. Everytime I opened that package, I was assured of a wonderful dinner in front of the tv! And boy, do I used to love those? 

So when the free spirit bloggers put up their theme this time - restaurant favorites - this came to my mind immediately. Actually the theme was main course - but I've just been craving this so much. So Siri - I hope you won't mind that I cooked up an appetizer. Trust me, I've eaten more of this than the main course..so that might make this qualify!

I made a whole big batch of this for a potluck party with our friends. So, the final pictures are not that great - they were taken using my IPhone. So, please excuse that. I just could not wait to dig in, you see!


Wash and cut a cauliflower into long pieces. Leave a little of the stalks so that you have sticks to pick on while eating. 



In a bowl, add 1 cup of maida.


To that, add 1/2 cup of corn flour.


Finally add about 2 heaped tsps of rice flour.


Now comes the fun seasonings. Throw in all of these -

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1-2 tsps red chilli powder (the more spicier, the tastier!)
Salt - to taste


And for a kicker - 1 big spoon of ginger garlic paste. Or you can also add fresh finely chopped garlic and ginger. These really do add a ton of flavor.


And yes, a few drops of red food color. If you want it the restaurant way, that is.


Add a little water about 1/2 cup, a little at a time and mix well to make a thick smooth paste.

Now, if you want to make this more in an Indo-Chinese way, you can add a little bit of soy sauce and vinegar.

Dip the cauliflower pieces and deep fry in hot oil. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.


It seemed like there were a lot more pieces - don't know where a few went. 


In a pan, saute some long cut onions and bell peppers individually till crisp. Add a pinch of salt to the veggies while frying those up.

Fry a few pieces of green chillies too and add to this.


Just before serving, mix all the crisp sauteed veggies with the Gobi 65 and mix well. Add 1 tsp of chat masala and mix well.  Add in a couple of cut lemon wedges on top. 

And the only thing left now is to dig in and enjoy. This was well loved by all my friends and a few folks were happy that there is an easy veggie alternative to Chicken 65. 


Thank you FSB gals for taking me back home with this dish. 

Check out all the awesome posts of FSB bloggers here - Siri, Lata Raja, Nags, Madhuri Kumar, Deepti Pawar, Mittu, Dhivya Karthik.

Enjoy and Peace Out!





16 comments:

  1. Awesome !!!! many ppl confoosh gobi 65 and gobi manchurian. ANd this weekend wen i was in pondicherry for a trip i downed so much of these , tht even i didnt eat the main course and hardly anything was left for others !! Glory to Gobi and Paneer 65 :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu... Making my mouth watering.... Niyaayama.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woww looks super yummy!! Will try it out sometime!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just now had a sumptuous lunch and my stomach is growling again. that last pic is enough to salivate any hungry soul. :-)

    Siri

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks delicious... and step by step process make it easy to understand.
    I made chicken 65 a few days back :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Annnuu, its 5pm here and I am so hungry. Damn, I dont even a restauant here that serves half as delectable 65's like that! yum post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. An all time fav snack!!! Btw....which cornflour did u use..Did u mean besan aka gramflour/chickpea..?? I thought cornflour was the one u get in packets by weikfield, bakers ets used for desserts & chinese startrs ot thickening agents..The ones i used were white in color..
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow delicious looking I dont mind finishing off the full bowl myself

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is my family's favourite recipe... One lays in my draft. thanks for reminidng the crunchy munchy gobi 65. Looks awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chinese is my favorite cuisine apart from our own. And yes, Gobi/Paneer 65 always tops the list even when we hit any chinese restaurant. YUM!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you all!

    @ Prathima - no, I did not use the besan/chickpea flour. And yes, I used the regular cornflour. And yes, those are sold under the Weikfield name too. But we get them in big packs here in our grocery stores not under a specific brand. Make sure though that it is cornflour and not cornstarch because both are available under the same brands sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I dont mind to have them anytime,quite inviting and delicious gobi65..

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh god! look at the final picture. looks delicious Anu!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks perfect, better than the restaurant :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! Let me know what you think.