The story
Chicken Manchurian has nothing to do with Manchuria. It is credited to Nelson Wang, a cook of Chinese descent born in Kolkata, who came to Mumbai in 1974 and found work at the Cricket Club of India. As he told it, in 1975 a customer asked for something that was not on the menu. He started as if making an Indian dish, with chopped garlic, ginger and green chilli, then added soy sauce and cornflour instead of garam masala, and finally the chicken. Wang opened his own restaurant, China Garden, in 1983, and Manchurian dishes, including the cauliflower version gobi Manchurian, spread across India and South Asia.
Also known as Manchurian chicken, Indo-Chinese chicken Manchurian.
On the Meridish menu
Chicken Manchurian was the main course on menu No. 28 on October 28, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Battered chicken in a glossy soy, garlic and green-chilli gravy. Despite the name, a cook of Chinese descent invented it at a cricket club here in 1975.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
