‘Vegetable Spring Rolls’

I remember when we would go to visit our maternal grandparents, my mamas would sometimes get food from the Tibetan/ Chinese restaurants near the Tibetan monastery. There was one dish that soon became a staple of our order as everyone in the family enjoyed it a lot. One day I decided to try my hand at making this dish as I thought it was a simple dish and even an amateur like me could make it without an issue. N boy was I wrong ! The filling was too oily n greasy and it kept coming out of the wrapper and of course the worst thing was that it tore open while frying. Even though I wasn’t able to save my first batch I decided to try to make them again and this time for my darling Appa who loves this dish. I think it was the encouragement from my Nani and Amma and of course Appa that I managed to get the proportions right and make a batch of Spring Rolls which were appreciated by everyone. Ever since then I have made quite a few variations of the filling depending on my tasters 🙂 and all of them have been appreciated by family and friends. Sharing the recipe for ‘Vegetable Spring Rolls’ and I hope you all make it for your near and dear ones soon :-).

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Ingredients

1 ½ cup – All purpose flour
¾ cup – Corn flour
1 nos – Egg
2 pinches – Baking soda
1 tsp – Salt
¾ cup – Water
8 nos finely sliced- Shitake mushroom caps
2 ½ cups shredded – Cabbage
1 cup finely sliced– Carrots
1 cup finely sliced – Bamboo shoots
2 Tbsp – Oil
2 tbsp grated – Ginger
1 Tbsp minced – Garlic
½ cup finely chopped – Green onion
1 Tbsp – Low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp – Green chilli sauce
2 tsp – Siracha sauce
Salt to taste
1 nos – Egg
Oil for frying

Method:
1. Put flour, corn flour, salt, and baking soda into a bowl and mix well. Add one egg and mix with whisk. Pour water little by little, kneading till you get soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and keep it aside
2. Heat a large wok and once hot add the oil. Add the ginger, garlic and green onion and mix while oil is heating (these ings need to go in when the oil is cold). Thereafter, once oil starts to heat up, add the mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots and stir fry on high heat for 2 mins
3. Add the soy sauce, Siracha sauce, green chilli sauce, salt and cook for 2 mins
4. Remove from flame and take out and spread onto a plate to cool
5. Break the egg and beat with 1 tsp of water for 2 mins
6. Take a small piece of the dough and roll it out into a 4 inch diameter circle
7. Place the vegetable mixture in one corner of the spring roll wrap and fold once
8. Take the edges of the wrapper and bring into the center and overlap over the folded vegetable mixture pocket
9. Roll the vegetable mixture pocket towards the other end of the wrapper (make sure to keep it tight so as to not have any air pockets)
10. Take a pastry brush and dip in the egg solution and paint the open edge (on the inside)
11.Once you reach the top seal the edge, make sure all edges are tight and then give the spring roll a paint over with the egg solution
12. Place the spring roll on a platter and cover with a plastic wrap to prevent getting dehydrated
13. Heat the oil for frying
14. Slide the spring rolls gently (from the side so as to not have the oil splash on you) and fry on medium low flame for 2-3 mins
15. Turn them frequently as you want to get the perfect golden brown color for the rolls
16. Once done, remove from pan and place on paper towel
17. Serve with chilli sauce / sweet n chilli sauce alongside a steaming bowl of soup / rice

TIPS:
1. In order to get rid of the excess oil/ water from the vegetable filling (once done with the stir-fry) tilt the plate / platter in order to drain the excess oil/ water and ensure that the vegetable filling is free of excess oil/water
2. If you don’t want to use egg then you can make a solution with cornstarch and water and use it to seal the edges
3. You can choose to add other vegetables to the filling like cauliflower, beans, peas or even paneer to give it a different taste and flavor