Who owns Chicken Manchurian? Pakistanis or Indians?

Who doesn’t enjoy a Twitter threads? We do! After the New York Times published an article about Chicken Manchurian and referred to it as a “stalwart of Pakistani Chinese cooking,” an internet conflict erupted. Indian nationalists soon turned into keyboard savages in response to the tweet, flooding the microblogging app with excuses and “proofs” that chicken Manchurian is “originally an Indian dish.” Many claimed the publication was anti-Indian and pro-Pakistan.

The outlet shared their article on Twitter and wrote, “A stalwart of Pakistani Chinese cooking, chicken Manchurian is immensely popular at Chinese restaurants across South Asia.” The article claimed that the recipe came from “attempts at recreating the version served at Hsin Kuang in Lahore, Pakistan, in the late ’90s.”

A stalwart of Pakistani Chinese cooking, chicken Manchurian is immensely popular at Chinese restaurants across South Asia. https://t.co/jorY16XePW pic.twitter.com/79hv3URnTm

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 26, 2023

Many readers criticized the Pakistani author directly for her biases and demanded that the newspaper “fact-check” the information before publishing it.

Just because your writer @zainabshah is a Pakistani, it doesn't mean that you get to appropriate a dish, that (alongwith with its multiple vegetarian variations using cottage cheese & cauliflower) was invented across the border in India. Please use some basic fact-checking. And…

— мαηιѕн (@_manishkapoor) March 27, 2023

Hi, it was invented by an Indian Chinese chef called Nelson Wang, he was born in Calcutta. His restaurants are in Mumbai. This is an Indian Chinese recipe.

— Nayanika (@nayanikaaa) March 27, 2023

Enjoying the envious Indians in the replies and quote tweets, Pakistanis also jibed in. Comedian and actor Ali Gul Pir also weighed in on the matter. “Love me some Pakistani Chinese! I think Chef Lin Chaudry invented this Manchurian, shop on Tariq road near Zahid Nihari,” he wrote.

Love me some Pakistani Chinese! I think Chef Lin Chaudry invented this Manchurian, shop on Tariq road near Zahid Nihari

— Ali Gul Pir (@Aligulpir) March 27, 2023

And then came some jibes from Pakistanis as well.

Indians talking about appropriation of cuisine when literally Tikka masala was invented by a Pakistani in Scotland! You won’t find Pakistanis crying over comment sections 😒

— Ravale Mohydin | ravale.eth (@Ravale_Mohydin) March 27, 2023

In a way, Pakistanis invented India itself, otherwise it would have remained a bunch of petty principalities. And chicken manchurian, of course.

— Ziyad Faisal Ismaili 🔻✊🔻 زیاد فیصل اسماعیلی (@Ziyad_F_I) March 27, 2023

A user found the real reason behind the paranoia of Indians. “The real reason behind Indians going haywire in the replies is how dare a western publication mention Pakistan and South Asia in the same sentence. Only India is synonymous with South Asia – from academia to culture to food and beyond,” they wrote.