Chinese-Indian chef Katherine Lim on why spreading the Hakka cuisine of her childhood in India and beyond is ‘very personal’

Kolkata-based Katherine Lim is a member of India’s Chinese Hakka community and has popularised her ancestors’ cuisine at some of the best restaurants in India

She talks about her grandparents making tofu and Chinese sausage, bringing Hong Kong typhoon shelter prawns to the masses and her crusade to spread knowledge

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Kolkata-based chef Katherine Lim is credited with popularising Chinese Hakka food in India. She opens up about her journey, and her “crusade” to spread knowledge about the cuisine she grew up with. Photo: Katherine Lim

Published: 7:15am, 20 Mar 2024

India’s Chinese community was established during British colonial rule in the 1800s when Chinese people were invited to set up sugar plantations in the country.

The community grew, with many of its members later finding employment in the leather business in Kolkata, and, by the late 19th century, in dentistry and at Chinese restaurants.

Katherine Lim, a third-generation member of India’s Hakka Chinese community, was born and raised in Amritsar, in the state of Punjab, but is now based in Kolkata. Her grandfather moved to Kolkata from China when he was 13 years old and learned how to make shoes in the city.

After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he moved to Amritsar and started a shoe business.

Lim is a third-generation Chinese Indian; her grandfather moved from China when he was 13. Photo: Katherine Lim

Today, Lim is known in India for her role in popularising Hakka cuisine, which is rich in pickled, cured and smoked dishes.