He wanted Chinese food, and I craved Indian.
The answer was clear: Chinese Dhaba, where the Indo-Chinese menu blends Indian spices, aromatics and vegetables with Chinese cooking techniques. It’s the Chinese mastery of searing heat — such as stir-frying in a wok, using soy sauce and rice wine vinegar — combined with Indian cooking’s layering of flavors, with spices that are fried, roasted, ground and also are in the oil.
These techniques are perfected in the dish gobi Manchurian, where rough chopped florets of cauliflower are dry-fried until the surfaces are browned. A coating of cornstarch helps create crispiness, while retaining juiciness inside. Then, they are stir-fried with a generous amount of aromatics: garlic, ginger, chile peppers, chopped onions, spices and scallions.
The interplay is not just in the technique and ingredients, but also in how each bite hits your palate. It’s savory, sweet and resonates with tongue-tingling heat — of which there are four levels from which you choose.
Chinese Dhaba. 5675 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Norcross. 770-416-1997, chinesedhaba.com
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