INDO CHINESE RECIPES
Indo Chinese cuisine is the adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking
according to Indian tastes. The cuisine originated from the small Chinese
community that lived in Kolkata for over a century. Most of these people are of Cantonese origin;
however, the dishes of modern Indian Chinese cuisine, such as Chicken
Manchurian, bear little resemblance to traditional Chinese cuisine.
Indo Chinese recipes are
immensely popular with Indians and have rapidly spread in major Indian
metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. It is also popular in Goa, where Chinese and Tibetan populations are at large
numbers. Indian Chinese has followed the mainstream Indian expatriate community
as they have spread across the world, providing with a taste of authentic
Indian Chinese.
Most of these
immigrants were Cantonese and Hakka. China
town in India
still boasts a number of Chinese restaurants specializing in Hakka cuisine and
Indo Chinese variants
Soups like Manchow soup and sweet
corn soup, again available in vegetarian and meat form, are commonly available,
as are starters such as chicken lollipops, spring rolls and wontons.
Staple base options for an Indian
Chinese meal include chicken, shrimp or vegetable variants of Hakka or
Szechwan/Sichuan noodles, popularly referred to as chow mein; and regular or Fried Noodles, Szechwan/Sichuan
fried rice. Chicken
Manchurian, American
chop suey and sweet and sour dishes can be found at many restaurants.
Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) turned into Sichuan paneer with Chinese spices. Chicken
curry was substituted with chili chicken. Pepper chicken reminded
people of south Indian style fried chicken. Non-vegetarian pakoras (batter
fried dumplings) chicken or lamb or prawn Manchurian, dry or gravy. And since
there′s usually at least one vegetarian in an Indian family Manchurian sauce
was poured over gobi (cauliflower). To some, Gobi Manchurian is the
outer limit of Indian-Chinese food friendship.
But it′s the ingredients that distinguish Indian Chinese food from real
Chinese food.
