Fusion cuisine combining Indian and Chinese traditions
Indian Chinese cuisine
,
Chinese Indian cuisine
,
Sino-Indian cuisine
,
Chindian cuisine
,
Hakka Chinese
[1]
or
Desi
-Chinese cuisine
is a distinct style of Chinese cuisine adapted to Indian tastes, combining
Chinese
foods with
Indian
flavours and spices. Though Asian cuisines have mixed throughout history throughout Asia, the most popular origin story of the fusion food resides with Chinese labourers of
Calcutta
(now called Kolkata), who immigrated to
British Raj India
looking for work.
[2]
Opening restaurant businesses in the area, these early Chinese food sellers adapted their culinary styles to suit Indian tastes.
[2]
Chinese Indian food is generally characterised by its ingredients: Indian vegetables and
spices
are used, along with a heavy amount of pungent Chinese sauces, thickening agents, and oil.
[3]
Stir-fried
in a wok, Sino-Indian food takes Chinese culinary styles and adds spices and flavours familiar to the Indian palate.
[3]
This idea of flavourful, saucy Chinese food cooked with Indian spices and vegetables has become integral to the mainstream culinary scenes of India,
Pakistan
,
Bangladesh
, and
Afghanistan
, and its diffusion to nations like the
United States
, the
United Kingdom
,
Australia
,
Canada
, and the
Caribbean
has shaped and altered the global view of Chinese, Indian, and Asian cuisines.
[4]
Origins
[
edit
]
Chinese in India
[
edit
]
The most popularized theory for the origins of Chinese Indian food was during the
British Rule of India
deep within Calcutta. Calcutta was the capital of
British-ruled India
when it was governed by the
East India Trading Company
(from 1757 to 1858).
[5]
The city's relation to the British crown made it a great place for material prospects and opportunity, which drew businessmen and immigrant workers from surrounding areas.
[3]
Located in the Northeastern region of India, Calcutta was the most accessible metropolitan area of the country by land from China; thus, this city harboured the very first Chinese settler, a southern Chinese man named Tong Atchew (also referred to as Yang Dazhao or Yang Tai Chow).
[3]
In 1778, Atchew settled 20 miles southwest of Kolkata (then Calcutta), founding a
sugar mill
along with five dozen or so Chinese labourers.
[2]
Following Atchew's footsteps, waves of immigrants from the
Guangdong province
of China fled to India due to civil war, famine, poverty, and conflict, searching for safety and prosperity.
[2]
Hakka
Chinese found their niche as
cobblers
and
tanners
, while the
Cantonese
settled mostly as
carpenters
and the
Hubei
people as dentists. However, an occupation popular among all groups, especially of wives supporting their labouring husbands, was a
restaurateur
.
[2]
From these first early settlers, communities of Chinese influence sprung up throughout the area, neighbourhoods of immigrants cooking and eating foods from their homeland. These
Canton cuisines
, known in China to be light and fresh in flavour, began to adapt and evolve into the new area. One reason is due to the availability of ingredients and spices being different from those in Guangdong, therefore forcing the flavour to naturally Indianize; additionally, Chinese businesses began to cater their foods to the tastes of their Indian patrons to increase sales, utilizing more spices and heavier douses of sauce and oil than their
traditional techniques
required.
[6]
Recognized as one of the first Indo-Chinese restaurants in the country, the still-standing corner eatery of Eau Chew gained its popularity by using the fashionable pull of exotic Chinese foods combined with non-threatening familiar flavours of chili,
curry
, and corn starch, to attract and keep-on customers.
[3]
[6]
Kolkata today boasts the only
Chinatown
in the country, a neighbourhood known as the
Tiretti Bazaar
.
[2]
This being said, nearly every city in India has these adapted "Chinese" foods, whether found in restaurants or hawked by
roadside vendors
, as the greasy, spicy, stir-fried food has become wildly popular throughout the country.
[6]
It is important also to note those Chinese returning from India to their homelands in China's south, for they often brought their new culinary practices and flavours with them, working to Indianize the taste of Cantonese-style foods in southern coastal cities such as
Hong Kong
.
[6]
Additional Origin Points
[
edit
]
As Indian historian
Pushpesh Pant
once noted, Indian Chinese food is "the result of several isolated encounters."
[6]
These encounters, in addition to the Kolkata story, include influences of the
Silk Road
, historical ties, and geography. Each of these aspects has worked in some way to tie the culinary practices and flavours of the two countries together, marking other possible origin points for the Indian Chinese culinary tradition.
Silk Road Cultural Exchange
[
edit
]
The
Silk Road
(or Silk Routes) was a network of
trading posts
and pathways on land and sea utilized from 130 BCE to 1453 CE spanning from China and the
Indonesian islands
through India and the
Middle East
, all the way to
northeastern Africa
and Italy.
[8]
The significance of this route to ancient history is undeniable, the exchange of goods,
diseases
, and ideas from the East to West and vice versa has had a lasting impact upon the human story. Chinese and Indian
merchants
would carry their goods across the borders separating the two neighbouring countries:
silks
,
rice
, and
crockery
coming from China, with a plethora of influential spices sprouting from India.
[8]
Another exchange between China and India was religion, with
Buddhism
coming to China from India via the Silk Road as well; moreover, as aspects of Indian culture, practices, and beliefs melded with Chinese traditions, the
Mahayana Buddhist
religion was formed.
[9]
Just as the Chinese adapted Buddhist practices to their own beliefs, the two cultures adopted certain aspects of the other throughout their historical interactions and exchanges. Rice dishes cooked in
Indianized Chinese woks
can be found in the
nation's south
, and there are spices of
ginger
,
cinnamon
, and
black pepper
present in various Chinese culinary styles; in this way, it can be seen how the Silk Road was vital in bringing characteristics of the two cultures together.
[10]
Indian and Chinese food aspects collided hundreds of years ago to form culinary traditions now inextricable with these nations; in this way, the Indo-Chinese fusion cuisine could be said to have appeared long before the first Chinese settlers in Kolkata.
Influences on Southeast Asian Cuisine
[
edit
]
Geographically, India and China are neighbours; historically, the two nations are
ancient empires
. Two of the
most populous
countries in the world today, both India and China boast lengthy histories. Since the second century CE,
Hindu rulers
presided over
Southeast Asian countries
and Chinese regimes ruled the more eastern regions, such as
Vietnam
.
[11]
[12]
Similarly, Asia's southeast was historically populated by immigrants from both China and India, namely the
Han
and
Tamil
ethnic groups who joined scattered aboriginal societies.
[10]
The influences of China and India can be detected in the
cuisines of Southeast Asia
, where the two culinary practices have been combined, adapted, and developed by generations of people. For example, the Chinese practice of
rice cultivation
was introduced to the regions of Southeast Asia and Nepal in the thirtieth century BC, where it has existed as an irreplaceable and undeniable staple ever since.
[13]
Furthermore, now completely embedded within Southeast Asian culinary practices, Chinese cooking and
eating implements
such as spoons, chopsticks, and
woks
were other products which were introduced to the region.
[14]
Evidence of Indian influence, in addition to
religious philosophies
and
ancient architecture
, can be found in the spices and flavours of Southeast Asian cooking.
[11]
Curries
?meat, fish, or vegetables cooked in a spiced sauce accompanied by rice or bread?originated on the Indian subcontinent, but have since diffused throughout Asia.
[15]
Spices such as
turmeric
,
coriander
,
pepper
,
brown mustard
, and ginger are present in curries throughout Southeast Asia, though each country has adapted the practice to utilize their own regional ingredients as well; most notably,
Indonesian
,
Malaysian
,
Thai
,
Filipino
, and
Cambodian
cuisines all have strong ties to Indian-style curry flavours.
[15]
These aspects of both Chinese and Indian culinary practices and traditions have combined to create the origins of what is now a rich and diverse culinary scene making up Asia's southeastern region. Thus, with the joined influence of the two cultures, Southeast Asian cuisine itself is another example of Indian Chinese food origins.
Culinary Diffusion Across Borders
[
edit
]
In addition to Southeast Asia, China has been influenced by Indian spices as well, especially in the autonomous region of
Tibet
, with
Nepal
also possessing culinary practices hailing from both its Chinese and Indian neighbours.
[10]
Therefore, another origin point of Indian Chinese food can be traced to the cultures of
Nepalese
and
Tibetan
peoples, whose lands are mostly encompassed by the two nations (India and China). Although not aligned with the greasy and pungent flavors of the culinary traditions which evolved in
Kolkata
, the simple
foods of Nepal
are often accompanied by rice, and consist of curries or spiced vegetables stir-fried or boiled in an Indian-style wok called a
karahi
.
[16]
Tibetan food
, in addition to
high altitude and harsh climates
, is geographically influenced by the flavours of the countries surrounding it: notably Nepal, India, and China. Tibet is a nation heavily influenced by
Indian Buddhist
values (first brought in the fifth century AD), and with beliefs and ideas travels culture and food as well.
[11]
Noodles
and
teas
from China (vital in making the
tsampa
eaten with every meal),
brown mustard
from India, and even a "
momo
" dumpling dish shared with Nepal are all significant constituents to and dishes of Tibetan cuisine.
[17]
With the diffusion of ingredients, culinary styles, and flavours across
borders
, the regions of Nepal and Tibet (as well as
Bhutan
) which touch both India and China inadvertently developed cuisines mixing both Chinese and Indian styles and tastes, creating yet another Indo-Chinese food origin.
Features
[
edit
]
Foods tend to be flavoured with
spices
such as
cumin
,
coriander
seeds, and
turmeric
, which with a few regional exceptions, such as
Xinjiang
, are traditionally not associated with much of
Chinese cuisine
. Hot
chilli
,
ginger
,
garlic
, sesame seeds, dry red chillis, black pepper corns and
yoghurt
are also frequently used in dishes.
[18]
This makes Indian Chinese food similar in taste to many ethnic dishes in
Southeast Asian
countries such as
Singapore
and
Malaysia
, which have strong Chinese and
Indian
cultural influences.
[15]
[14]
Non-
staple
dishes are by default served with generous helpings of
gravy
, although they can also be ordered "dry" or "without gravy". Culinary styles often seen in Indian Chinese fare include "Chilli" (implying
batter
-fried items cooked with pieces of
chilli pepper
), "Manchurian" (implying a
sweet
and
salty
brown
sauce), and "
Schezwan
" (sic - see below) (implying a
spicy
red
sauce).
Dishes
[
edit
]
Appetizers
[
edit
]
Main dishes
[
edit
]
The main ingredient in all these dishes can often be substituted with other meats, vegetables or
paneer
. Usually the
nomenclature
is such that the main ingredient is mentioned first, followed by the entree style, for example "Chicken Chilli". Many are available in both "dry" or "gravy" versions, varying the amount of sauce served in the dish.
- Chilli chicken
, dry or gravy
- Garlic chicken
- Chilli Paneer
- Schezwan
[note 1]
- A spicy and pungent sauce made with dry red chillies, garlic, shallots and spices.
[19]
Dishes with this name in fact usually bear very little resemblance to ones from China's
Sichuan Province
, although they sometimes contain
Sichuan peppercorns
.
- Ginger chicken
- Manchurian
, generally consisting of a variety of deep-fried meats,
cauliflower
(
gobi
) or
paneer
with vegetables in a spicy brown sauce.
[20]
It is basically a creation of Chinese restaurants in India, and bears little resemblance to traditional
Manchu cuisine
or
Chinese cuisine
.
[21]
It is said to have been invented in 1975 by
Nelson Wang
; Wang described his invention process as starting from the basic ingredients of an Indian dish, namely chopped garlic, ginger, and green chilis, but next, instead of adding
garam masala
, he put in
soy sauce
, followed by
cornstarch
and the chicken itself.
[22]
A popular vegetarian variant replaces chicken with cauliflower,
[20]
and is commonly known as
gobi manchurian
. Other vegetarian variants include mushroom, paneer, baby corn, veg Manchurian.
[
citation needed
]
- Chow mein
- A popular dish combining noodles, vegetables,
scrambled egg
, ginger and garlic, soy sauce, green chili sauce, red chili sauce and vinegar
- Hong Kong Chicken
- Jalfrezi Chicken
- Lemon chicken
- Hunan chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Different from the American Version of Sweet and Sour, but similar to
General Tso's Chicken
.
- Chop suey
American style & Chinese Style - Crispy Noodles with a variety of vegetables, chicken or meat and sauces.
Rice and noodles
[
edit
]
Staple base options for an Indian Chinese meal include chicken,
shrimp
or vegetable variants of "Hakka" or "Schezwan"
noodles
popularly referred to as
chow mein
; and regular or "Schezwan"
fried rice
.
American
chop suey
and
sweet and sour
dishes can be found at many restaurants. Some
South Indian
restaurants
have also come up with
spring rolls
and "Schezwan"
dosas
.
Sweets and desserts
[
edit
]
Indian Chinese
dessert
options include
ice cream
on
honey
-fried noodles or
date
pancakes
.
Indian Chinese cuisine of Southeast Asia
[
edit
]
In Southeast Asia, particularly
Malaysia
and
Singapore
, many popular dishes carry influence from both Indian and Chinese cuisine due to cultural syncretism.
Malaysian
and
Singaporean
Chinese cuisine is primarily based on
Fujian
,
Cantonese
,
Teochew
, and
Hakka
cuisines, and
Malaysian
and
Singaporean
Indian cuisine is primarily based on
South Indian cuisine
, especially from
Tamil
,
Telugu
, and
Malayali
cuisine as well as the cuisine of South Indian Muslims. Chinese and Indian cultures have fused in Singapore and Malaysia, with Chinese and Indian relationships being the most common intercultural relationships in both countries.
[
citation needed
]
Singaporean and Malaysian dishes that carry influence from both Indian and Chinese cuisines include
fish head curry
and
mee goreng
, and popular Indian Chinese dishes such as Manchurian and chili chicken are also popular in Singapore and Malaysia.
Availability
[
edit
]
Indian or
Calcutta
Chinese food is readily available in major metropolitan areas of India such as
Kolkata
along with other towns and cities in
West Bengal
,
Mumbai
,
Chennai
,
Guwahati
,
Hyderabad
,
Delhi
and
Bangalore
. It is also available in a number of towns and at
dhabas
(roadside stalls), also popularly referred to as "Fast food", adjacent to major Indian
roads
and
highways
. Many restaurants have a Chinese section in their
menus
, and some are even dedicated to serving Indian Chinese food. It can also be found in mobile
kitchen
carts
(lari or rekdi) that ply the streets of cities, prepared in
woks
over a portable
gas
burner. Manchurian sauce,
Schezwan sauce
,
soy sauce
fresh and dry Hakka noodles
[23]
are available in many stores in cities across the country.
As of 2007, Chinese cuisine ranked as India's most favourite cuisine (after local food), growing at 9% annually. It is the most favoured option when young people go out to eat and the second favourite (after
south Indian cuisine
) when families dine out.
[24]
Many overseas Indian restaurants in
the West
and the
Middle East
also cater to the overseas Indians'
nostalgic
taste for Indian Chinese food.
[25]
The cuisine is also branching out into the mainstream in major cities of North America, such as
New York City
,
San Francisco
,
Seattle
,
Philadelphia
,
Houston
,
Dallas
,
Chicago
,
Toronto
,
Los Angeles
,
Atlanta
,
Montreal
,
Phoenix
and
Vancouver
. Chinese food in
Nairobi
,
Kenya
, also tends to be of this style. It is also available in
Australia
, especially in
Brisbane
,
Melbourne
and
Sydney
. In many of these places, the restaurants are labelled as Hakka Chinese, when in fact the cuisine itself has very little resemblance to authentic
Hakka cuisine
. "Hakka" label in these restaurants are usually referring to the owner's origins, and many Chinese restaurant owners in India were of
Hakka
origin.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The spelling of "Schezwan" is not a mis-print; this is indeed how the term tends to be spelled in the Indo-Chinese kitchen rather than "Sichuan", "Szechuan" or "Szechwan".
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Lunch Lesson: Getting schooled on Hakka Indian cuisine at Yueh Tung"
. September 25, 2017
. Retrieved
22 January
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Ding, Emily (Spring 2019). "Sunday Market, Tiretti Bazaar".
Virginia Quarterly Review
.
95
: 12?13.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Sanjiv Khamgaonkar.
"Chinese food in India -- a fiery fusion of flavors"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
Sankar, Amal (2017-12-01).
"Creation of Indian?Chinese cuisine: Chinese food in an Indian city"
.
Journal of Ethnic Foods
.
4
(4): 268?273.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jef.2017.10.002
.
ISSN
2352-6181
.
- ^
Johnson, Ben (2015).
"The East India Company and its Role in Ruling India"
.
Historic UK
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Food for Thought in India-China Ties".
Filipino Post
. 30 July 2020.
- ^
Acri, Andrea (20 December 2018).
"Maritime Buddhism"
.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion
.
Oxford
:
Oxford University Press
.
doi
:
10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.638
.
ISBN
9780199340378
.
Archived
from the original on 19 February 2019
. Retrieved
30 May
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Silk Road"
.
World History Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
"Buddhism in China | World History: A Comprehensive Reference Set - Credo Reference"
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Asia".
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
. January 2018.
- ^
a
b
c
"Education - Indian influences on Asia"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
Kenneth, Kiple (2000).
V.B.2. Southeast Asia: Cambridge World History of Food
. Cambridge Press.
- ^
"History of rice cultivation"
.
Ricepedia
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
a
b
says, All Graduates | Japanese Translation Service (2015-05-05).
"Chinese food culture: Influences from within and without"
.
Asia Dialogue
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Curry | food"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
2020-10-27
.
- ^
Buchet, Jennifer (September 2019). "Momo, Yack and Dal Bhat--mmmm, How about That?".
Faces
.
36
: 18.
- ^
Brooks, Iris (August 2008). "Food Fit for a Dalai Lama".
Global Rhythm
.
17
: 18?19.
- ^
Deshpande, Shubada (October 25, 1999).
"Fare for the Desi Dragon"
.
Rediff.com
. Retrieved
2009-02-22
.
- ^
"Schezwan Sauce"
. 9 June 2021.
- ^
a
b
"Manchurian chicken"
.
The Straits Times
. 2007-06-03. p. 77 – via NewspaperSG, National Library Board.
Thng, Lay Teen (2007-06-03).
"Manchurian chicken"
.
The Straits Times
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-02-07
. Retrieved
2010-04-21
.
- ^
Mukherjee, Sipra; Gooptu, Sarvani (2009). "The Chinese community of Calcutta". In Banerjee, Himadri (ed.).
Calcutta Mosaic: Essays and Interviews on the Minority Communities of Calcutta
. Anthem Press. pp. 131?142.
ISBN
978-81-905835-5-8
.
- ^
Bhagat, Rasheeda (2007-05-04).
"Taste and disdain … A tour of the country's interesting eating habits with a roving journalist"
.
The Hindu Businessline
. Retrieved
2010-04-21
.
- ^
"Dry Hakka Noodles Blocks Made by Machine"
. noodle-machines.com. June 13, 2024. Archived from
the original
on June 13, 2024
. Retrieved
June 13,
2024
.
- ^
M, Raja (October 30, 2007).
"India gets a taste for Chinese"
.
Asia Times Online
. Archived from
the original
on August 21, 2008
. Retrieved
2009-02-22
.
- ^
Chopra, Sonia (September 3, 2001).
"Chinese food, Indian-style"
.
Rediff.com
(US Edition)
. Retrieved
2009-02-22
.
External links
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