A lot of Chinese recipes involve a perfect balance of sweet and sour tastes. Sweet and sour vegetable (usually carrots as in this recipe) is a very popular dish on the menus of many Indian restaurants offering Chinese fare.
Naturally, the first time I ever had this was in a restaurant and I have to confess I quite liked it. At some point, much later, I found a recipe for “Sweet and Sour Carrots” in one of my cookbooks and I was rather surprised (shocked was more like it) to see that the ingredients included cornstarch and tomato ketchup! My feeling is that most people would either like it or not and very few people would have an ambiguous feeling about this dish.
I have since discovered that cornstarch is used as a binder and thickener in Chinese cooking but ketchup is about as close to being Chinese as I am!!
Now that I know what goes into this dish, I tend to make it less often only because I don’t think there’s much nutrition in cooking some carrot, onion and bell pepper in what is basically a soya-tomato ketchup flavoured cornstarch thickened sauce.
This dish is usually not at all spicy but I prefer to add a bit of “fire” to it as I feel this tastes better.
I don’t mean to put any one off this recipe with my description and let me assure you, I wouldn’t be posting it here if it wasn’t reasonably good. I had promised this recipe in my last post and here’s my version adapted from The Vegetarian Menu Cookbook by Vasantha Moorthy.
You may also use a mix of vegetables in place of carrots for a different but equally tasty preparation.
Sweet And Sour Carrots (Indian Style)
Ingredients
- 1/4 kg carrots
- 2 green bell peppers small
- 2 onions small
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 2 tbsps tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- 1/2 tsp red chilli sauce
- 2 tbsps cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tbsps sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper crushed
- to taste salt
- tbsps spring onion a couple of greens
Instructions
- Peel/ scrape the carrots and slice them into 1/2" thick roundels.
- If your carrot is thick/ fat, cut the carrot lengthwise and then slice into 1/2 " pieces.
- Steam cook, microwave or boil in lightly salted ware till just done.
- Dice the onion into slightly big pieces (I cut each onion half into 4). Dice the bell peppers into a similar size. Keep aside.
- Heat the oil, add the onion and sautxe9 on high heat for a couple of minutes till it turns pink. Add the bell pepper and sautxe9 till soft. Now add the cooked carrot, salt and pepper and stir for a couple of minutes.
- In a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch, red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, vinegar, sugar and about 1/4 a cup of water, till smooth. Pour this into the vegetables, stirring throughout, and allow to cook (on medium heat) for about 3 to 5 minutes till it thickens a bit. If you feel the mixture is too thick, add a little more water and cook for another minute.
- Pour into a serving dish and garnish with chopped spring onion greens.
- Serve with noodles or fried rice.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
looks great nice and different way of making carrot
Looks really yummy for these cold winters..
This sweet and sour gravy used to be a fascination when I was much younger, but not anymore.
heya Aparna! seems like you are having a Chinese kinda winter there :)))…haven’t seen you around much 🙁 .. catch you soon?
Love sweet and sour combo! Yes, we do use a lot of cornstarch for thickening but nowadays I tend to stay away from that and just reduce the sauce.
I love chinese sweet and sour dishes, though have only had chicken or shrimps.
Interesting dip/pickle.I guess if we knew all the ingredients that were used in restaurants we may never be brave enough to try the recipes.
The sweet and sour Carrot looks absolutely great and yummy! Nice click as well.Cheers,Rachana Kothari
Who would have thought? Sweet & Sour Carrots made with ketchup. However, I have heard of Copper Pennies made with Tomato Soup. I’m intrigued and a bit confused. I can’t wait try it!!!!Thanks for sharing, Aparna
looks delicious…and love the new lay out!
I too don’t like to use corn starch as thickener in the cooking and I use arrow root powder in place of it.Just read your about me page. Well written and finally your pic on the net. Lovely pic.
absolutely love anything sweet and sour!
Like Chinese soup, yummy color and looks tasty. My kids love Carrots in anything. Trisha went back to college y’day, new semester at 9am today. Feel a bit sad, house feels empty.
nice color and wonderful..
I have never tasted the veggie version- the color is very exciting and attractive!
absolutely love the sweet n sour combo..looks like its all Indian-Chinese in your kitchen these days! 🙂
very nice!! i also like cabbage or baby corn in something like this, and muhsrooms, but not all at one go!!
So lively and colourful, perfect with some steamed rice.
Hey How are you?? Happy New Year. The sweet and sour carrots look awesome. I am sure going to try
That looks delicious. I love Indo-Chinese food and with the ketchup you’ve truly made this your own :)A belated happy new year, dear Aparna.
Love soups with carrots, lots of them… I am sure I will like this one too… Nice photo and presentation!! Thanks for sharing!Sawadee from Bangkok,Kris
What a wonderful idea Aparna. Sweet and sour dish is the perfect way to balance out the flavor.
Looks good! Actually, Tomato sauce (ketchup) has a high content of lycopene and is supposed to be good for the health – especially as a cancer protection. So go for it! Eat more of this!
Wow, they look so good too! I was amazed to see the tomato sauce, but hey, if it tastes good…..
I use tomato ketchup in manchurian 🙂
You’ll see me soon, Asha. :)Reducing the sauce sounds like an excellent suggestion. Shall keep it in mind.Louise, it takes all sorts to make a dish! LOLThank you, Jayasree. :)Its a awful feeling when kids grow up and leave. 🙁 Cheer up, Asha.Toamto sauce, yes, but ketchup as protection against cancer? That’s an idea, Dharm. 🙂