Chicken Chowmein Noodles: The King of Desi Chinese Food

A lot of people have this notion that dishes like Chowmien, Manchurian and Chilli Paneer fall under the category of authentic Chinese food. However, the reality is that it comes under the category of ‘Indo-Chinese’ , which is a fusion of Chinese and Indian cuisine. The story of the inception of Indo-Chinese comes from the 1700s from the town of Kolkata, when it was the capital of the British Empire. Chinese immigrants who were largely silk traders, carpenters, dentists and leather tannery owners, started cooking their food using Indian ingredients. After selling these dishes as easy street food, Indian Chinese restaurants and two Chinatowns were opened in Kolkata.

An Indian interpretation of Chinese food consists of deep fried spicy Indian ingredients with infused Chinese flavours mostly by using sauces like soya sauce and vinegar. Infact, the Shwezwan sauce is an invention of Indian- Chinese flavours. Over time, Indian Chinese food has travelled from the streets of Kolkata and has become an absolute favourite of the entire nation. Especially in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. A dish still very popular on the streets of Kolkata is desi-style chowmein available both in vegetarian and non-vegetarian variations. Let’s look at how this desi-style delicacy could be prepared easily in your kitchen.

• 250 gms Chicken (boneless)
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 4 tsp chopped green chillies
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 5-6 Spring onion stems
• ½ cup Barbeque sauce
• 1 Egg
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tsp chopped cabbage
• 1 small chopped carrot
• Chopped bell peppers
• ½ pack of Noodles
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 tsp Soya Sauce

Steps-

Preparation of Chicken

• In a bowl, add boneless chicken pieces. Now, add ginger garlic paste, white pepper, and salt. Mix it properly while coating all the pieces of chicken. 
• Now, coat it properly with the help of cornflour.
• In a wok/kadai add one tablespoon of oil. Add 1 beaten egg and scramble it properly.
• Take it out in a spare place. Add 1 tablespoon of oil in the same wok. Add the marinated chicken. Make sure to keep the flame low. Stir-fry till for 2-3 minutes. Take it out on a separate plate.

The Noodles-

• Add 1 tablespoon of oil in the same work. Add bell peppers, onions, cabbage, carrots, lemon grass stems and stir-fry nicely for 5 minutes. Make sure not to overcook the veggies, they need to be a little bit crunchy
• Take them out on a separate plate
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Add chopped garlic, ginger, white pepper, black pepper, and salt stir
• Now, add the noodles to the wok and mix properly to coat the noodles with spices.
• Add soya sauce and vinegar and carefully mix the ingredients well
• Now, add the egg, the chicken and the vegetables in the wok and mix all these things together. Use two forks to do it
• Cook the noodles for 5 minutes on low flame and garnish with some spring onion greens.

The long slurpy noodles are there to make your day and the minced chicken could make anyone drool over its taste.