Welcome back to another installment of Ethnic Eating Adventures, in which we travel far and wide to discover the hidden culinary delights of New York City. Today, we're heading to Elmhurst for fusion cuisine that isn't passe: Chinese-Indian at Tangra Masala.
Believe it or not, Indo-Chinese cuisine has longstanding roots—for over a century now, cooks in Calcutta have been applying Chinese flavors and cooking techniques to Indian foods, with delicious results. There aren't too many places to find it in New York, but tiny Tangra Masala, with its run-down awning and inconspicuous location just off of Queens Blvd, nails it.
Prepare your mouth for a blistering experience; nearly everything on the menu is infused with chili peppers (or is just labeled "spicy"). Chiles, ginger, cumin and garlic make frequent appearances, though it's worth nothing that "chili" on the menu (as in "chili beef") means that the food will be batter-fried and spicy. The other popular Indo-Chinese preparation is "Manchurian"-style, which is a sweet/salty brown sauce. Nearly everything on the menu is offered "dry or gravy," (you can even get Manchurian dishes "dry"), and if you're into feeling the burn, dry is the way to go—the dishes have a cleaner flavor and more heat that way.
Start off with the lollipop chicken, easily the most popular appetizer on the menu, which are tender, juicy drumsticks batter-coated and chili-fried, served alongside a "chef's secret" dipping sauce. Eat these with your fingers, then move along to the dry chili beef (or goat!), a fiery hot platter of meat so robustly marinated that it leaves its plate tinted an oily red. Round it out with some vegetables—try the Gobi Manchurian, stems of cauliflower dredged in spices, fried, and coated in a tangy gravy. Then drink some milk to soothe your aching tongue, and be prepared for your hair to smell like delicious spicy curry sauce for the next several days.
Tangra Masala, 8709 Grand Ave, Queens, 718-803-2298
