00:00 What happens when you marry Chinese technique with South Asian flavor and spice?
00:04 Indo-Chinese, baby!
00:05 That's what Nelson Wang did in 1975 when he created the Chicken Manchurian,
00:09 born in Calcutta as a third-generation Chinese immigrant in India.
00:13 But he wasn't the first to experiment with these two cuisines.
00:15 Chinese immigration to India dates way back to the 18th century,
00:18 when many moved to Calcutta as sugar mill workers.
00:20 By the end of the Second World War, Calcutta had over 26,000 Chinese immigrants.
00:24 And to cater to them, eateries specifically for Chinese workers began opening,
00:28 and women at home started selling food as a side business.
00:31 When they couldn't find native Chinese greens like choy sum and gai lan and baby spinach,
00:35 they used carrots and cabbage instead.
00:37 Sichuan pepper was swapped for red chilies and crab for prawn.
00:39 Soy sauce stayed, but garlic and ginger, two staples of Indian cooking, were added.
00:43 Then, Chinese men increasingly married Indian women,
00:46 and the union of these two cuisines became even more tangible.
00:49 You can find it everywhere, all over the world, from America to the UK to Australia.
00:53 It's proof that even as things get crazy in this world,
00:56 Food is something that is always gonna bring us together.
00:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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