By DOUGLAS PIZA, 6/09/2016. In my last week before departing to Kolkata, anxiety is a difficult element to control. But the best solution to this problem was not a complicated one to find. It was right there in Queens, in two locations: the Tangra Masala Asian Fusion Cuisine units in Elmhurst and Sunnyside.
The exquisite Chinese-Indian cuisine is unique, and I would not do justice to its aromas if I try to simplify it too much. Its main element, according to the restaurant’s kind manager, is “adding Indian spices and the culture of dense, flavor-rich sauces to Chinese plates.” As the restaurant’s website puts it: “the particular brand of Chinese food adapted to the Indian palate by generations of ethnic-Chinese Indians.” The design of the restaurant located in Sunnyside epitomizes the hybridization of the Chinese and Indian cultures, full of Chinese porcelain vases and Indian ornaments in the walls – the British presence, so impactful in both societies, was also apparent in the ceiling decoration, and other details.
In my last post I commented on three main spaces of the Chinese diaspora in Kolkata, one of them is the Tangra neighborhood. The district has been hosting Hakka migrants specialized in tanning, but less so after new environmental legislation of the 1990s made it more difficult and costly to keep the businesses open. A great portion of the area, I was told, now hosts restaurants – and the Chinese-Indian cuisine typical of the region is catered to new customers besides the Chinese community, especially Kolkata’s residents and tourists.
In this context, the family that relocated from Kolkata to New York is an example of many Chinese Indians who emigrated from the Tangra region. In fact, quite a few managed to make it to the United States, and according to the restaurant’s manager the majority of them are now living in Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong. Among other aspects, the American immigration policy has higher bars for issuing visas and granting citizenship status to these Chinese Indians compared to other countries’ policies. Toronto has perhaps the greatest concentration of these emigrants, and the relationships they have with Kolkata are polyvalent as the documentary The Legend of Fat Mama by Rafeeq Ellias shows.
Food was as great as chatting in Tangra Masala. My experience there seems to be a small announcement of the days to come – delightful days I would say.