Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Sabzi of the Day - Gobi 65: Crispy Cauliflower Coupled With Rice, Noodles or Flatbreads

A vegetarian version of a super famous 65 dish from Chennai, Gobi 65 has turned a sweet vegetable like cauliflower into a fiery favourite of many

Before Gobi 65 became a thing for vegetarians, there was and remains a dish with the “65” tag, which was invented at Buhari Hotel in Chennai in 1965. The dish that we are trying to refer to was invented by A.M. Buhari in 1965, and that is why it carries the numerical tag of “65”—not because the dish has 65 ingredients or it is marinated for 65, which are some of the most common misconceptions associated with the dish.

Over the years, Gobi 65 has become a vegetarian alternative, which is often consumed as a snack or even paired with noodles, fried rice, parathas, or roomali rotis. The vegetarian dish from South India doesn’t require the usage of bottled sauce and can be made in a jiffy. How? Follow the below-mentioned steps.

Ingredients for Gobi 65

For the batter

  • Corn-starch
  • Rice flour
  • Curry leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • Pinch of red food colouring
  • 65 ready-made masala

For the wet mixture

  • All-purpose flour/white flour
  • Corn-starch
  • Salt to taste
  • Water

For the sauce

  • Oil
  • Cloves of garlic, minced
  • Ginger grated
  • Green chillies thinly slit
  • Curry leaves
  • Red chilli sauce
  • Yoghurt


Recipe

  • Begin by cutting the cauliflower into small florets.
  • Blanch the cauliflower, drain the water, and let it dry.
  • In a bowl, mix corn-starch, rice flour, chopped curry leaves, a pinch of red colour, salt, and 65 masala.
  • Add the cauliflower florets to this mixture of masala and cover the cauliflower florets from every side. The idea is to infuse every bit of florets with the flavour of the masala mix.
  • In another bowl, prepare the wet mixture.
  • Add corn flour, corn-starch, and water.
  • Whisk as much as possible to ensure there is no lump. However, the mixture should be slightly on the thick side.
  • In a pan or kadhai, add enough oil so that when florets are dropped, they sink to the bottom and get deep-fried.
  • Dip the florets in the batter, and once covered, drop them in hot oil.
  • Once the florets are crispy, take them out of the oil with a spider strainer and place them on soaking paper so that the excess oil is soaked.
  • Now, let’s move on to preparing the sauce.
  • In a pan, heat oil and add chopped garlic, grated ginger, slit green chillies, and a few curry leaves. Sauté until the ingredients release an aroma.
  • Add red chilli sauce, yoghurt, and salt.
  • Simmer until the sauce becomes really thick and dry.
  • Toss the fried cauliflower florets in the sauce and cover it well.

A plate of hot and fiery Gobi 65 is ready to be consumed as a snack or even as a meal during lunch or dinner. If you wish to consume it as a meal, couple the Gobi 65 with fried rice, roomali rotis, lachcha parathas, or even noodles.

Give it a try and you may not even look back at the original recipe!