The bitter aftertaste though, is the story of how Chinese Indians are struggling to fit in.
Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe, about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.
There is a popular sauce in India, which involves massive amounts of green chillies, salt and Indian spices such as turmeric. And it is sold as a Chinese sauce, in Kolkata’s Chinatown.
From paneer chilli to green chilli, Chinese sauces, adapted for Indian taste buds, are very popular in India.
It is also a representation of how ethnic Chinese - their origins in Kolkata can be traced to the 18th century in India - have assimilated.
But that is not the complete story, for the community whose history has been fraught, from the fall-out from the 1962 war between India and China, to the after-effects of today’s border conflict.
In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying chats with India correspondent Debarshi Dasgupta on the Chinese-Indian community’s hopes and fears.
Highlights (click/tap above):
0:48 What are Chinese-Indian sauces
1:59 Indian influences
3:13 A story of decline and atrophy
8:10 A painful history
Read Debarshi Dasgupta's article here: https://str.sg/feZA
Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd
Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters
Host: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg)
Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani
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