Manchurian (dish)
Manchurian is a class of Indian Chinese dish made by roughly chopping and deep-frying ingredients such as chicken, cauliflower (gobi), prawns, fish, mutton, and paneer, and then sautéeing them in a sauce flavored with soy sauce. Manchurian is the result of the adaptation of Chinese cooking and seasoning techniques to suit Indian tastes. It has become a staple of Indian Chinese cuisine. History The word "Manchurian" means native or inhabitant of Manchuria (in northeast China); the dish, however, is a creation of Chinese restaurants in India, and bears little resemblance to traditional Manchu cuisine or Northeastern Chinese cuisine. It is said to have been invented in 1975 by Nelson Wang, a cook at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, when a customer asked him to create a new dish, different from what was available on the menu. Wang described his invention process as starting from the basic ingredients of an Indian dish, namely chopped garlic, ginger, and green chilis, but next, instead of adding garam masala, he put in soy sauce, followed by cornstarch and the chicken itself. The dish is popular across South Asia. A popular vegetarian variant replaces chicken with cauliflower, and is commonly known as gobi