7 most popular Indo-Chinese Dishes

Indo-Chinese is a real cuisine! 

Chinese Bhel, Chinese Chili Paneer, Chinese Momos....and the list is endless. Chinese can easily be awarded the most popular foreign cuisine in India - there are shops literally in every nook and corner that offer Chinese dishes. Of course, what they call Chinese is an adapted and mutated version of authentic Chinese food.

I was totally unaware of the original Chinese cuisine until I met my Chinese dorm mate who opened my eyes (:P). She took me to a Chinese restaurant in Germany and even cooked a few times and trust me, it did not bear even little resemblance to what we get in most Indian restaurants.

Chinese cuisine is quite versatile, with a variety of spices, chilies and peppers which are sometimes hotter than Indian chilies. They incorporate a lot of vegetables and meat, grown locally in China and my friend also told me that the style of cooking, could entirely differ from region to region within China. However, like a source states, Indo-Chinese is an adaptation of Chinese cooking techniques to suit the Indian taste palate.

The fiery wok cooking style blended with Indian vegetables and condiments are sure one-of-a-kind in the world. 

I listed the most common vegetarian dishes in the Indo-Chinese culinary scene. These 7 are quintessentially popular dishes that can only be found in India. And sometimes in my kitchen!

1. Chowmein

A favorite street-food in most Indian metropolitan cities. Originally, just stir fried vegetables with noodles, the Indo-Chinese version is absolutely finger-licking. It is spicy and prepared by frying noodles mainly with vegetables, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, chili sauces and vinegar.

2. Manchurian

A spicy brown sauce with fried vegetable balls, paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and most popularly cauliflower. Two variants are basically known - one where the vegetables are sparsely coated with the sauce and sometimes even served as finger food; the other one made with a more 'soupy' sauce, preferred with noodles or rice. Corn starch is used to thicken this sauce which is made using ingredients like soy sauce and tomato ketchup. 

3. Schezwan Fried Rice

I bet no one can claim mastery of fried rice except Indians and it is definitely one of the most savored foods in parties, marriages or every-day life. As the name suggests, the dish is inspired from
the Chinese 'sichuan' pepper dishes but replaced with red chilies instead. As its color indicates, it is a fiery and flavorful red chili sauce cooked with rice or noodles or sometimes even vegetables. Schezwan fried rice is the winner of all! The fried rice is usually cooked with cabbage, carrot, beans, shallots and bell peppers.

4. Manchow Soup

A dark brown soup, thickened with corn starch and vegetable broth, topped with finely cut vegetables and scallions, this soup seems to have originated from the eastern part of India. This soup is sometimes served with fried noodles and mainly incorporates soy sauce and red chilies.

5. Cabbage Momos

Momos are Chinese dumplings and quite famous in entire South Asia. In India, they are one of the most-liked street-food and relatively healthy as they are steamed and not deep-fried. There is probably one version, local to every state in India but the most common version is made with spicey cabbage filling in different shapes and served with sweet & spicy chili dip.

6. Chili Paneer / Baby Corn / Mushroom etc. etc. etc. 

As the name suggests, these are spicy chili flavored vegetables, pan fried or deep fried and mostly served as appetizers. There is no substitute for this oil-drooling dish prepared with sauteed onions and capsicum and a soy sauce marinade. Most favorite in restaurants and terrifically scrumptious. Also, my favorite! 

7. Chop Suey

Plain fried crispy noodles, served with a spicy soy sauce based sauce tossed with vegetables. Chop Suey is prominently an American dish but the Indian mastery of tadka and chili are reasons why this dish made it to my list. Delicious is the word!

Are there more such fusion cuisines around the world which are actually becoming a trend? Write down below in the comments section. I would love to know!