The bitter aftertaste though, is the story of how Chinese Indians are struggling to fit in. 

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe, about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. 

There is a popular sauce in India, which involves massive amounts of green chillies, salt and Indian spices such as turmeric. And it is sold as a Chinese sauce, in Kolkata’s Chinatown.

From paneer chilli to green chilli, Chinese sauces, adapted for Indian taste buds, are very popular in India.

It is also a representation of how ethnic Chinese - their origins in Kolkata can be traced to the 18th century in India - have assimilated.  

But that is not the complete story, for the community whose history has been fraught, from the fall-out from the 1962 war between India and China, to the after-effects of today’s border conflict. 

In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying chats with India correspondent Debarshi Dasgupta on the Chinese-Indian community’s hopes and fears. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:48 What are Chinese-Indian sauces

1:59 Indian influences 

3:13 A story of decline and atrophy

8:10 A painful history

Read Debarshi Dasgupta's article here: https://str.sg/feZA

Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd

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Host: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

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