Four easy Indo-Chinese recipes you can make at home

Try these fresh dishes from Soho’s Fatt Pundit restaurant for a tantalising Indo-Chinese feast at home, says Hannah Twiggs

Manchow soup is a popular Indo-Chinese dish thanks to its easy preparation and hot and spicy taste (Fatt Pundit)

Indo-Chinese cuisine is steeped in history and was created by those who emigrated from Canton and Guangdong in China with their rich gastronomic culture and settled in Kolkata and Mumbai, where they began incorporating Indian spices into their Chinese dishes.

Here’s four recipes from Soho’s Fatt Pundit, which has just launched a new site in Covent Garden, celebrating this unique diaspora cuisine.

Manchow soup

Ingredients:

100g egg noodles, boiled

Oil for deep frying

50g chicken mince (vegetarians can substitute with tofu)

50g carrot, finely chopped

50g cabbage, finely chopped

20g green pepper, deseeded and chopped

20g red pepper, deseeded and chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped

½ tbsp ginger, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

5-6 cups chicken stock OR vegetable stock

Salt, to taste

½ white pepper powder

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

3 tbsp cornflour/corn starch

1 spring onions, chopped

1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Boil the noodles in sufficient water until al dente, drain and pat dry. Heat up oil in a deep pan, once hot enough deep fry the noodles until they are crisp and drain them on a absorbent paper and set aside.

2. Prepare the chicken or vegetable stock and keep it aside.

3. Finely chop all the vegetables and keep aside.

4. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a deep pan.

5. Add garlic, ginger and green chillies, sauté for a minute until fragrant, add the chicken and mix for 1-2 minutes.

6. Add carrot, cabbage, red and green capsicum, stir for 1 minute and then add the chicken stock or vegetable stock.

7. Stir and add salt and let the soup come to a boil.

8. Add white pepper powder, dark soy sauce and simmer the soup for 2-3 minutes.

9. Blend cornflour in a little stock and add to the soup, stirring continuously. Cook till the soup thickens.

10. Finally add the beaten eggs whilst stirring it continuously so that it does not lump up.

11. Add spring onion greens. Serve hot, garnished with crushed fried noodles.

Beef momo recipe

All meals in Tangra start with momos (Joe Howard)

All meals in Tangra start with these hearty, flavoursome steamed dumplings straight from the steel steamers, served with a spicy chutney, with influences from Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and other parts of India.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

250g all purpose flour

125ml water

½ tsp salt

For the filling:

500g beef mince

2 tsp red chilli powder

2½ tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

1 tbsp fresh green chillies, chopped

2 tbsp leek finely chopped

2 tbsp spring onions chopped

2-4 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all purpose flour with water and knead into a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine all filling ingredients and mix them well, rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour atleast.

3. Divide the dough into small balls. Roll in dry flour and roll into small 5cm circle keeping the edges thin and the centre thick. For well executed momos, it is essential that the middle portion of the wrapper be slightly thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of dumplings during packing and steaming

4. For packing hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of filling mixture and with the other hand bring all edges together to the centre, making the pleats. Pinch and twist the pleats to ensure the absolute closure of the stuffed dumpling. This holds the key to good tasting, juicy dumplings.

5. Heat up a steamer, oil the steamer rack well. This is critical because it will prevent dumplings from sticking. Arrange uncooked dumplings in the steamer. Close the lid, and allow steaming until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Take dumplings off the steamer and serve immediately.

OR if you don’t have a steamer, heat water in a deep non stick pan. Line a bamboo basket with cabbage leaves. apply a little oil on the momos and place them over the cabbage leaves.

6. Cover and place the basket over the hot water, cover the pan and steam for 8-10 minutes or till done.

7. Uncover the pan, take the basket out and open it. Serve the momos hot.

Hakka chilli paneer lettuce cups

Ingredients:

Paneer (cottage cheese) cut into cubes 200g

Oil, for deep frying

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

50g white onion, finely chopped

3-4 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Salt, to taste

½ tsp black pepper powder

½ tsp white pepper powder

2 tbsp cornflour/corn starch

1 tbsp refined flour

2 baby gem lettuce

Method:

1. Separate the baby gem lettuce leaves and soak in cold water.

2. Put paneer cubes in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon refined flour, 1 tablespoon cornflour, salt, anda little cold water, add the paneer to the batter and mix well and ensure the cubes are lightlycoated.

3. Heat sufficient oil in a wok, gently add the cubes of paneer into the frying oil, separating them with a spoon or tong if they are getting stuck together. Fry for 2-3 mins until lightlycrispy, then drain on a paper towel.

4. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Sauté the chopped ginger and garlic, green chillies as they are slightly fragrant add in the chopped white onions and sauté further for another 2 minutes.

5. Add in the paneer and sauté for another minute be careful not to break them, add somewater (50-100ml) for the paneer to not stick to the pan.

6. Add the soy sauce mix, sprinkle the white and black pepper powder and toss it all on a high flame

7. Add ½ tablespoon of cornflour slurry, once mixed take it off the heat.

8. Pat dry the lettuce leaves and spread them on a plate, fill up the leaves with hot chilli paneer and they are ready to be served.

Sticky sesame vegetables

Crunchy, savoury, sweet and generously spiced (Joe Howard)

Ingredients:

100g carrot cut into thin strips

200g cabbage cut into thin strips

100g green beans

100g onions thinly sliced

Oil for frying

For the batter:

5 tbsp cornflour/corn starch

5 tbsp refined flour

Salt, to taste

For the sauce:

4-5 garlic cloves, chopped

5-6 whole dry red chillies

50g spring onions, chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp acacia honey (or agave nectar for vegans)

Salt, to taste

Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Method:

1. Mix cornflour, refined flour, salt in a bowl with enough water to make a thick batter. Add the vegetables and mix so that all the vegetables are well coated. Make palm sized flattened cakes of the battered vegetables.

2. Fry in two stages. Heat enough oil in a wok and deep fry the vegetablecakes 1-2 minutes; just until they start changing colour. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.

3. Once the cakes are fried, cut them into bite size pieces and agin. Deep fry until they are golden brown and crispy.

4. For the sauce heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan until its smoking hot, add the dry red chilli to get the smoking flavour in the pan/wok; add garlic, green chilli, sauté until brown in colour.

5. Add the ketchup, dark soy sauce, honey, spring onion and salt, sauté for half a minute. Add all the fried vegetables and mix well until the vegetables are coated with the sauce. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve hot.