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The History Behind Indo Chinese Food

Introduction

While several people may presume that fusion food is a practice that has only recently been adopted and incorporated in the modern world, you will not believe that Indo Chinese food has been around and is a well-established cuisine that has been practised for more than a hundred years now!

Indo Chinese food is simply referred to as the ‘Chinese food’ for some people or even the ‘Chindian’ kind of food! Most often, it is observed right from the initial food seasoning and integration of the conventional Chinese method of cooking that suits the Indian palate. This is particularly crucial for vegetarian meals, given that the ingredients used to create these meals are simply astounding.

History & Origins behind Indo Chinese Food

Indo chinese food is actually a form of food that is Indian style Chinese food and this may come in tasty deep-fried spices that all Indians will appreciate with accompanying Chinese spices like soy sauce, vinegar etc.

Indian Chinese food has its taste different from that regularly prepared Chinese food and the manner in which they prepare it is different too for example in preparing Schezwan sauce Indian prepare it with dry red chilies which are labelled as ‘chilies’ in India and Sichuan pepper is substituted with Sichuan peppercorn. There is also Manchurian style preparation where the meats and the vegetables can be coated and fried with a batter and is cooked with Chinese sauce having Indian spices such as garlic, ginger, and green chilies.

Many people enjoy Indian Chinese food now a days and the food is readily available all over India especially in Mumbai but the credit of starting this food item goes to Kolkata. It is a very popular type of food in India today, so much so that there are those who claim it is genuine Chinese cuisine. It is commonly called Chinese food and its presence is so extensive that it becomes difficult to draw their lines of demarcation.

Mainly because of the Chinese community in Kolkata, the spicy flavor of Indian Chinese food was introduced. Chinese food in Kolkata is typically Indo Chinese Food or ‘Chinese Food’, whatever the name may be, that is cooked by the ‘Hakka’ community mostly settled in the city.

It is worthy of note that the development of Chinese establishments in Kolkata dates back to year 1778. This was present and established by the early 1900s as the current day Chinatown was formed in this area. 

Today, you do not have to search far and wide for Indo Chinese restaurants.These restaurants are a mainstay in not only the metropolitan cities but even in the corners of India. With a smartphone in every one’s hand its really very easy to search out the best food shop for Chinese food available in your area. All you would need to do is search using terms such as ‘Indo Chinese restaurant near me’, ‘Indian Chinese restaurant near me’, ‘Indo Chinese near me’, ‘Indo Chinese food near me’ or ‘Indian Chinese food near me. ’ Your search query will evoke a list of the most burgeoning Chinese street-foods as well as restaurants within your vicinity.

Traditional Chinese food has spices like cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and turmeric seeds added into it. These spices are used much more in Indian food than in Chinese, however, you can find some of them in the Chinese part of Xinjiang province. 

Some of the other ingredients that play a major role are Hot Chili, Ginger, Garlic, Sesame seeds, Red dried chilli, Black peppercorns, Yogurt. Similar lists of ingredients can also be found in other countries that are in South-East Asia that have been influenced by China such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Quite a number of differentiated styles of dishes are distinctly popular in the Indo-Chinese food culture. However, two of the most famous are Schezwan and Manchurian People all over the world prefer this style of food because of its unique and delicious taste.

Schezwan

Indo Chinese Food

The term ‘Schezwan’ may seem like a misspelt version of ‘Szechwan but that is just how these dishes are named and represented in India. It is even possible that dishes possessing this name have pretty much a connection or similarity to actual food from the Sichuan province of China. Normally, the dishes in Schezwan cuisine emphasise on a spicy sauce which includes red chilli and garlic among other ingredients.

Manchurian

Indo Chinese Food

These are mostly stir-fries made from either meat, or paneer or several vegetables in a thick and rich brown spicy base gravy. From the legend of its existence, “Manchurian” was prepared by a cook named Nelson Wang and when he was asked how it was made he said it was made from the basic Indian ingredients such as ginger, garlic and green chillies and soy sauce instead of garam masala which is added at the end.

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Conclusion

The concept of Indo-Chinese food or food style is over a century old, credited to Calcutta, which has grown in popularity all over the country. It is a rare offering of how spices up and coming from India mix well with the basic Chinese ways of food preparation to produce some favorite dishes of the people such as Schezwan and Manchurian. Even today Indo-Chinese food flavors the palates of food lovers all over India and with the availability and wonderful taste, it is sure to remain an unforgettable part of the Indian food map .

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