Veg Balls with Red Dipping Sauce

Spice rating - Hot
Health rating - Healthy

Category - In-betweens/ Starters

Now, you gotta decide whether the VegBalls were made for the dipping sauce or the Sauce was made for the VegBalls !! Or shall we say, they are made for each other !!

On some lazy evening, when your tongue and your healt-freak brain start playing a game of chess, you are faced with the ONE big culinary question ! While your evil alter ego is wondering about butter and cheese and deep fried potatoes, its bland healthy counterpart looks at the boiled veggies in resignation !!! How the hell do you win the game !!??

So, lets start thinking.. we want crisp... we want succulent.. we want spice.. we want tang.. we want color.. we want it all.!!
Okay.. so what do we have here..

Cabbage
Carrots
Onions
Capsicum
Beans
Ginger
Garlic

Hmm.. so thats the veggies.. Just chop them very fine.. (easier in a chopper).
So whats gonna make it crisp? okay.. Add a little cornflour.. (just enough to bind the veggies wih salt)
Okay.. so you want it a little crisper.. what the hell..a pinch of baking soda does no harm !!

There you go.. you are ready with the stuff . Now for the frying bit..
Hold on.. no deep frying business.. thats bad for your health.. so we are just going to pan fry it. with a very little oil. And if you have one of those cooking sprays, all the more merrier (ir shall we say healthier !!).

So how do we make it crisp?? Simple, just startwith medium-high heat, reduce a bit midway to cook it thoroughly and finish with a high to brown the outside! Dont forget to blot out the excess oil (if any)!

Your VegBalls are ready. Now for the spice , the tang and the hot bit !

Ok. so how do we want our sauce to be. Lets say, we want to get the tang first, then the garlicy bit followed by a hot and sweet explosion. So we got our requirements straigtened out. Now for the execution.. !! :) Thats the tough bit isn't it!! Well, not quite ..

Put the ginger, garlic and dried red chilli in a chopper and zzzzup.. Wait, dont make a paste out of it.. Just ensure is finely chopped.

Take oil in a pan, put a pich of sugar and saute' the ginger, garlic, red chilli combo a little till you get the fine aroma of the flavours..

Then we add the tang. And we are thinking white wine (or dry sherry or chinese cooking wine or the last last last resort , the good old vinegar) here alongwith lime juice , honey, salt, tomato paste (or puree). Mix all this in a bowl and add to the pan. Boil a little and taste to ensure it suits you..

To add some ZING to it, towards the end, add a little chilli oil (If you dont have chilli oil, just fry dry red chilli in oil at very low heat, and use the oil) !!

Enjoy !!