Made in China: Samosa and Paratha

Owais Mughal

On our last trip to buy oriental grocery we were surprised beyond words to find ‘Tsingtao Curry Samosa‘ and ‘Paratha - which taste like authentic Indian’ in a refrigerator.

Both of these items were made in China. We immediately bought both items and I must confess they both tasted very good. Samosa filling was made of Chinese curry and Parathas were puff Parathas. You gotta taste them to believe me.

Today I couldn’t resist and took these photos of ‘made in China’ samosa box to share with all of you.

For those who are really interested in knowing the recipe’ of this Chinese samosa, here are the ingredients which I am faithfully copying from the box:

Cabbage, Wheat Flour, Water, Potato, Mushroom, Onion, Carrot, Vegetable Oil, Sugar, Salt, Soy Sauce and Curry powder.

I believe there is a big food export business going on between China and South Asia. On a trip to China in 2001, I met a businessman from Mumbai who was manufacturing ‘Chinese dumplings’ in India and exporting them to China.

Now after writing all this I must also state that - with all due respect to China or India - no one can beat the taste of Samosas sold in United Bakery, Karimabad Chowrangi Karachi.

As the poet says:

jo maza chajjoo de chobaaray
O na Balkh na Bukhaaray
The enjoyment that one gets on a native street corner
cannot be found in either Balkh or Bukhara