Appe Manchurian..A colorful South Indo Chinese appetizer.

Appe Pan or Aebleskiver Pan is one of my newest purchase and I am already in love with it. It is so versatile and can be used for almost anything that you would rather fry. Some dishes that I have tried in this “wonder pan” include dahi vada, kofte, kababs, bread roll, sabudana vada, manchurian etc. If you need some wonderful ideas to use this pan, check out this link by a dear friend Soniya Saluja. You will be amazed by her creativity with which she has used the appe pan and created some fabulous dishes. A big thumps up to you Soniya for all your interesting ideas. 🙂

Appe is a traditional south indian breakfast item, made with rice and pulses that are soaked and grinded and finally tempered and cooked in an appe pan. I have however made them with sooji or semolina for an instant version. These appe are then sautéed in some Manchurian gravy to create a perfect match of a South indo Chinese cuisine. 😛

Here is how I made this interesting appetizer.

Ingredients:

To make Appe

Sooji – 1 cup

Thick yogurt – 1/2 cup

Water – 1 cup, appx.

Eno Fruit Salt – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

To make Manchurian gravy

Oil – 1 tbsp

Finely sliced onion  – 2 tbsp
Finely chopped red and green bell pepper – 1/2 cup
Crushed garlic – 1 tbsp.
Crushed ginger 1 tbsp.
Soy sauce – 1/2 tbsp
Vinegar – 1/2 tbsp
Chili sauce – 1 tsp
Ketchup  – 1/2 tbsp
Corn flour – 1 tbsp dissolved in 2 tbsp water.
Salt – to taste

Black Pepper Powder – 1/2 tsp

Sugar – 1/2 tsp

Water – 1 cup
For Garnish – Chopped green onions or sesame seeds

Method:

1. Lets make the appe first. Mix the sooji, yogurt and salt and gradually add the water. The mixture should be of pouring consistency. Leave it aside for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat your appe pan and add a drop of oil in each of the hole. Add the eno to your sooji mix and pour a little batter in each of these holes.
3. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes on medium flame till you get a nice brown color. Flip on to the other side and cook for another 3 minutes, uncovered this time.
4. Take them out on a plate and lets cook the Manchurian gravy now.
5. Heat oil in a wok and add in the garlic and ginger. Let them cook for a minute.
6. Add in the sliced onions and bell pepper and cook on high heat for about 2 minutes. Its important to cook this on high heat to make sure the veggies retain their crunch.
7. Its time to add all the sauces now – the soya sauce, vinegar, chili sauce and ketchup. Mix well.
8. Add in the salt, pepper, sugar and water. Let it boil.
9. Once the sauce comes to boil, add in the corn flour mixed with water. Let it cook for a minute or two.
10. Do a taste test to make sure its per your preference.
11. Finally add in the cooked appe and mix till they are well covered with the sauce which should have thickened up by now.
12. Cook this for a minute for all the flavors to blend in.
13. That’s it done. Garnish with chopped green onions or sesame seeds. Enjoy.

So there if you have it. A beautiful fusion that I am sure you will love. Do give it a try and let me know if you like it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time,

Ritu. 🙂