Chili Chicken - A famous dish of the Indo-Chinese!!

China, a neighboring country of India, and a country who gave us one of the most savored cuisine - CHINESE. But, we are Indians. We find a way out of everything and the authentic Chinese cuisine was also not spared by our own inventions and alterations. 

Therefore, we got our Desi Chinese cuisine which gave us our own spicy, Chinese but with a hint of Indian spices of Chilli chicken recipes and many other that we find it lip-smacking.  There are many authentic Chinese restaurants now in town, but, the flavor and aromatic feeling our Desi version of Chinese cuisine give us can’t be matched with their dishes. 

But, do you know where did Indian Chinese cuisine get its origin from? I know, many would be thinking from the north-eastern states, but mates you are wrong. Let’s take a tour into the history of Indian Chinese cuisine and how the Chilli chicken recipes came into existence.

Chilli Chicken Recipes

A tour to the history of Indian-Chinese Cuisine

Indian Chinese cuisine came into existence from the streets of Kolkata. It’s a staggering fact for many of us to know that even today there is an approximately 2000 Chinese residing in Kolkata. Many of these people belong to the Haka origin(Now we get why the name ‘Haka Noodles’), and the Indian version of Chinese have a lot of similarity with the authentic Chinese cuisine. 

Now, let us talk about our favorite Chilli chicken recipe. The first time it experimented was back in 1975 by a man who himself was a big-time foodie - Nelson Wang. Yes, he was a Chinese. He while creating this mesmerizing dish, used some basic spices easily available in India like chopped garlic, green chilies, chopped ginger, chopped bell pepper and added them. Moreover, instead of adding our desi garam masala which was mostly used in the Indian meat recipes, he added different types of sauce like soya sauce, chili sauce, tomato puree, etc. It was then followed by a dash of cornstarch and chicken and there we get our own desi version of the unique, yet yummy recipe of Chilli chicken. 

Different ways of preparing Chilli chicken

We Indians are known for our fondness for gravies. So, how can a Chinese dish be spared from this fondness? Therefore, we get two different ways and types to devour the Chilli chicken recipes: dry Chilli chicken and with gravy. Yes, though the method and ingredients are almost the same for both the types, one is enjoyed as a part of appetizer or as starters and the other is a big part of the main course meal. 

The best part is, this dish can be clubbed with many side dishes, like rice, noodles, etc. and those who are extremely desi by heart, at times opt for a laccha parantha with a Chilli chicken making it a fusion of the north Indian as well as the Chinese cuisine. But, then this is what we are!! So grounded to our roots!!!