People across Mumbai devour culinary feats from different cuisines, as they have developed a sharp tongue for the hundreds of international dishes now available locally. Japanese, French, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Burmese, and so many more!
Despite these choices, people have not been steered away from the hundreds of Chinese restaurants that dot every city. From fancy establishments to neighbourhood joints, these restaurants serve what is now recognised as Indian blended with Chinese food (Indo-Chinese): the spicy gravies, saucy noodles, and vegetable Manchurians are always batter-fried and covered in chilli garlic sauce- although this is hugely different from what is consumed in China.
This cuisine has gained popularity to such an extent that regular Indian restaurants will usually include a Chinese section on the menu too. This will feature all the usual favourites – fried rice, chilli chicken, sweet corn soup – and many will think nothing of ordering a dish or two.
But how did Chinese food become such a large part of Indian cuisine? This story involves interactions of communities and cultures, giving birth to a hybrid cuisine that we all know today as the Indo-Chinese Cuisine.
This story starts in the 18th century Calcutta (now Kolkata). It was part of the trade route which drew Chinese workers; both skilled and unskilled. The first Chinese migrant is believed to have been a tea trader named Yang Dazhao, popularly known as Yang Atchew. By 1901, the census recorded 1,640 Chinese people living in the city.
Soon, in 1924, Calcutta’s first Chinese restaurant “Nanking” opened, serving Cantonese food that reportedly went on to draw the likes of yesteryear Bollywood stars like Dilip Kumar. However, this was traditional Chinese food, and it was not much appreciated by Indians, who were used to spicy sizzling dishes.
It is unclear how the Indo-Chinese food spread from Tangra to the entire country. Around 1974, India’s first Sichuan restaurant opened up at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay, introducing locals to a new type of Chinese food.
Since not everyone had access to ingredients like Sichuan peppers, they improvised. They simply fried meat and put it in a gravy that had been thickened with cornstarch, flavoured it deeply with Indian spices. This variation blended the spices of India with the dishes of China, birthing the original Indo-Chinese cuisine.
