General Tso in Bombay

In the U.S., immigrants have forever shaped and influenced American cuisine. It is often difficult to separate what is American and what is “foreign,” or perhaps, what makes American cuisine so unique is that there is no need for separation. The complexities and diversity of food is what makes eating in the U.S. so interesting. Only recently, however, is “authentic ethnic” food really taking hold. Many Americans are not satisfied with the seasoned-down versions of Italian pasta sauces or the muted versions of Indian masalas or bastardized Chinese food full of MSG (chop suey is not actually Chinese….)

Overseas, the influence of immigrant cuisine is no different, and they too get adapted and influenced by local cuisine. Let’s revert back to India, for the moment, where Chinese food is not only seen on street vendor carts (a whole chain), but the Indian-Chinese food is delicious.

From wonton soups to lo mein, the dishes are “Indianized” to add unique flavors. A popular dish is chili paneer, almost like a Szechwan tofu dish only made with Indian paneer and different spices.

A simple recipe adapted from Recipezaar:

16 ounces paneer
4 TB corn flour
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB chili or hot sauce
10-12 small green chilis, chopped
2 TB soy sauce
4 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (or leave out if you don’t peppers, like me)
Salt to taste

1. Roll balls of paneer with corn flour
2. Heat some oil in skillet and fry paneer until golden brown, remove from heat.
3. Add more oil and fry onions until brown
4. Add green chilis and fry for a couple minutes
5. Add green pepper if using it
6. Return paneer
7. Add tomato paste, chili sauce, and soy sauce and stir fry for about 3 minutes
8. Salt to taste

Not your typical General Tso’s chicken.

Tags: chili paneer, Chinese, cultural, culture, food, Immigrant, India, Indian, Italian, italy, paneer, recipe, Recipe Vault

Category: Featured Articles: Travel & Culture, Recipe Vault, South/Southeast Asia, Travel & Culture