[Spoiler] A rather technical and intricate story is generically spiced (masala) up with typical thrill-tropes to make it appealing to the masses: military attack on aliens (wise aliens only send video-conference units to the earth in Chiang's story), an international affairs angle, melodrama of General Shang, etc.

I was using it in a sense similar to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_film