Ashis Nandy said of cricket that it is a quintessentially Indian game accidentally invented in England. Given the popularity of Chinese food in India and the delightful transmutation that the cuisine has taken in its journey across the great wall, one could by now say of Chinese food that it is quintessentially Indian, even if accidentally invented in China.
The debate on the identity and nature of Chinese food in India is not one that will easily be settled. While the purists turn their nose against Chinese cuisine in India claiming that it is not Chinese at all, there are equally those defend it arguing that it is precisely this difference which makes it unique.
Here then are a bunch of articles weighing on the debate about whether it is Chinese, Indian or Indian-Chinese.
Chaudhuri, Amit. Caclutta Chinese, An extract from Amit Chaudhuri's book Calcutta: Two Years in the City
Maria Thomas, How Chinese cuisine became India’s comfort food
Nisha Susan, Send me your Gobi Manchurian and Schezwan Idlis
Pankhuri Shukla & Arnica Kala, Chinese Food Is More ‘Indian’ Than ‘Chinese’, So Why Ban It?