An Indian-Chinese appetiser, chicken lollipops are easy to find at Chinese restaurants across India. They are made by pushing the flesh along the bone into a fold, to form a meaty end that’s hearty to bite into. 

Chicken lollipops are also known as “drums of heaven”. The chicken used for lollipops is marinated in a spice paste, battered and then deep fried. The dish isn’t easy to find at Chinese restaurants outside India and since Indian-Chinese cuisine was invented in India. Kolkata is considered the birthplace of Indian-Chinese food. The cuisine can be traced back to Hakka Chinese traders who came to Kolkata in the late 1700s; it involves merging Indian flavours with Chinese ingredients like soy sauce.