4 February, 2023
MANCHURIAN | Invented In India
Is this true, Manchurian was invented in India, not China?
A fusion dish which was invented to cater the Indian palate and became a huge hit with its lip smacking taste. Crispy deep fried balls dunked in sweet, spicy and mildly tangy sauce craves us to dig in right away. If we’re hosting a dinner party, we can never go wrong with a platter of “Manchurian” as a snack or main course meal.
There are two popular variants of ‘Manchurian’, “Dry” and “Gravy”. The “Dry Manchurian” is enjoyed as a snack and the “Gravy Manchurian” is served along with Hakka Noodles, Fried Rice or Steamed Rice as a main course meal. The combination of Gravy Manchurian with Fried Rice or Hakka Noodles is so perfect, it always leaves me wanting more. I love both variants of this dish.. Which one do you like?
The base ingredients of Manchurian are Soy Sauce, Spring Onions, Ginger, Green Chillies and Coriander.
People often get confused about the origin of ‘Manchurian’ and claim it is a Chinese dish. But… Manchurian was not invented in China. People of China never ate anything known as Manchurian. This dish never existed there.
The Origin and History of Manchurian:
‘Manchurian’ is basically a Kofta consisting of subtle Indian flavors combining with the cooking techniques of Chinese cuisine. This dish was created in “Mumbai”/ “Kolkata” (India) by a chef who was the son of a Chinese migrant (The Hakka People) and is referred to as “Indo Chinese Dish”. It consists of Indian soya sauce which is more viscous and dark compared to the original soya sauce.
Place of Origin : Mumbai, India / Kolkata, India
In the Imperial period, when the “Hakka” people were removed from China, substantial numbers of Hakka people migrated to various countries throughout the world because of social unrest, upheaval and invasions. Then one Hakka tribe moved and settled in India. They made their own village of 50-60 people near Kolkata in the late 18th century.
A trader named “Tong Atchew” also came with them, who was probably a tea trader. Old records show that he applied to the colonial government for land in Bengal, because he wanted to set up a sugar mill there. Government then granted him the land for his business. To work in that sugar mill, Atchew brought laborers from China. Subsequently, more people from China came and settled in that village. That village today is known as “Achipur”. After the death of “Tong Atchew”, the sugar mill was sold by the Government and the settlement in Achipur came to an end.
This Hakka Chinese community then moved to Kolkata and settled in a village named “Tangra”. Kolkata thus became home to a large number of Chinese people, who not only engaged in various occupations there but also added a new chapter to the evolution and fusion of two cuisines. And “Tangra” is a place where the foundation of “Indian Chinese Food” was laid down by the industrious “Hakka Chinese community”.
.
These people from China who settled in ‘Tangra’, gradually understood and adapted the palette of Bengalis and the rest of the Indians. What ingredients they used, the preference for sweet and savory.. Keeping in mind these things, Hakka people created some fusion dishes by substituting the Chinese ingredients (which weren’t available in India) with Indian ingredients. Just like Chinese cabbage was replaced by Indian cabbage, soybean paste was replaced by chickpea paste, soya sauce was made with rice, barley and wheat because soya beans weren’t easily available in India and some other ingredients were also substituted by them which were not available in India.
This substantial migrant settlement in India resulted in the invention of many Indo Chinese dishes in the regions of “Tangra” using Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian tastes. These dishes don’t exist in China and never existed before. “Veg Manchurian” is also one of these inventions.
A boom in Tangra’s unique ‘Indian-Chinese cuisine’ attracted a lot of attention and these recipes spread widely to the other parts of India. Tangra is now the most popular destination for Chinese food. Chinese food sold in Tangra restaurants are now known all over the world as “Hakka Style” Chinese food.
Who Invented Manchurian?
Chef “Nelson Wang”, the Third-Generation Chef and son of one of those migrants. He invented the dish Chicken Manchurian in 1975 while catering at “Cricket Club of India” (Mumbai). A customer asked him to make something not on the menu. He created it by replacing the Indian spices with Soy Sauce, followed by cornstarch.
How do people get confused about their origin from China? Where did the idea of naming this dish “Manchurian” come from?
‘Manchurian’ is not a Chinese dish. There is a place around northeast China or somewhere in between Mongolia, Russia and North China called “Manchuria” where Manchu people lived. China was ruled by this Manchu Dynasty and Chinese culture progressed further by this dynasty. The China that we see today owes a lot to the Manchu dynasty.
Only the idea of naming this dish came from there. But the Manchu Dynasty or the place Manchuria is nowhere related to the origin of dish Manchurian. They never ate anything known as Manchurian.
We named it Manchurian after King Manchu because of his popularity in China.
The Making of Manchurian:
Whether it is Dry Manhurian or the Gravy Manchurian, the taste of this dish is solely dependent on the crunchy texture of vegetables added to it. So it is very important to take care of some cooking steps while making manchurian balls.
- Vegetables should be finely chopped. Cabbage, Carrots, French Beans, Ginger, and Spring Onions all these veggies should be finely chopped to make perfect manchurian balls.
- Don’t make the dipping batter too floury or doughy like. This batter of refined flour, baking powder and corn flour is just for binding. Once the mixture binds well, there is no need to add more batter to the veggies. Otherwise the manchurian balls will taste too floury and the crunchy texture of the veggies will die down.
- After making the mixture for manchurian balls, don’t wait too long to fry. As this mixture contains salt, the vegetables will continue to seep water and you will have to add more flour to it to adjust the consistency of batter and the manchurian balls will become too floury.
- The manchurian balls should be super crispy outside but also well cooked from inside.
Gravy Manchurian is heavy on soy sauce but for Dry Manchurian, add a little more ketchup and less soy sauce.
Enjoy this mouth watering blend of minced and deep fried veggies, wok-tossed in a sweet, hot and spicy sauce.