Trip to China - My Experiences

I have successfully completed my 2 week China trip and returned in one piece last week. I was a little dizzy and my body took about 2 days to get back into routine (no jetlag.. thank god for that). Two weeks looked really long, but everything went well without any major mishaps (except for the initial delay of 4hours in Newark with the aircraft crew stuck in Holland tunnel).
From a fellow Asian perspective, China is a very modern, neat and crowded (sh… did I say crowded) country. I went to Shanghai and Hong Kong and both these cities were very modern with tons of skyscrapers, giant bridges, very clean roads and lots of people (did I say people….. again). You can find McDonalds, KFC’s, Pizza Huts on almost every corner of the street. I was surprised to see almost all the Chinese women dressed in latest fashions and trends similar to New York.

Shanghai has many sky scrapers, but among these tall new buildings is the old Shanghai city (Top left corner photos). If you see from a sky scraper, you will see sprawling 1 to 2 storey buildings constructed very very close to each and look like a maze from the top.

I couldn’t believe the roads in China – 5 lane roads and exits. If you don’t see the Chinese signs, you would think you are in US. There are traffic rules, but not many seem to follow them. Chinese drivers have very little or no patience at all and they weave through the traffic so fast, you forget which lane you started in. Maximum speed allowed in 120 km/hr (75 miles/hr) and again no body seems to care much (not even the cops). I didn’t see even a single cop car on the highway (I know they have better things to do). Anyway all the trips went well with no major issues on the road.

In Shanghai, there might be around 100 (big and small) malls at every corner of the street. And from my observation, Chinese like to shop similar to Americans. The mall I went to during the weekend was buzzing with activity the whole day. The other reason for the malls being crowded is that they are the only places that are air-conditioned in the city.

Finally, the issue I was worried about before I left to China was the food. It was not as bad I expected. Shanghai and Hong Kong have many restaurants that have vegetarian options (it may be just one or two items on the menu.. but I was really glad they at least had them). Chinese food is nothing like the take-out food (too greasy) we get in the U.S. Vegetables are generally steamed or sautéed in very little oil with lots of flavor (fresh ginger, garlic and soy sauce).
For Chinese having lunch or dinner is a communal event. They like to share their food. I noticed that they eat a lot of protein (Fish, seafood, veggies etc) and not too much of carbs.

Apart from Chinese food, we (my manager and I) also had a chance to taste other cuisines. Our director in HK took us to a Indian restaurant (They even had hindi channel “Sahara TV” in the hotel). We went to Angelini’s (another Italian restaurant in HK and I had this awesome potato lasagna.. will try to make it sometime), Pizza Hut in Shanghai (that was our last meal in China.. we were both too home sick to eat Chinese food).
Below are the pictures of Grocery store and farmer's market in China. Grocery stores are filled with western stuff like Barilla pasta and spaghetti sauces.
All in all, it was a great trip (even though I am very glad I am back home) in terms of work and an experience to explore a new country. I didn’t have more time to go out site seeing, but will pass on that for now.. But I definitely would like to go back to visit these awesome places (photos courtesy Impact labs. See more pics here).

Sweet Memories - Mango Juice

We bought these tiny mangoes from Indian store last week. They looked like rasam mamadipandlu (mangoes with juice instead of flesh), but they ended up being regular mangoes. I am not sure if we can even get rasalu in US. Anyway I had about 25 mangoes and only 3 people to eat them (outside heat was not helping us either). I made mango pudding (which has now become our staple mango dessert) with about 6 of them. With the rest of the mangoes I made Mango juice, recipe courtesy, Mom.

Years ago, my mom along with 2 of her best friends (our very lovely aunts, we call them both Atta) used to go to Canning & Nutrition Center in Hyderabad to make juices, jams and marmalades for the whole year and especially for the hot summer . This was like a yearly tradition during the months of march and april when there is abundance of seasonal fruit.

These ladies used to go to the center with baskets and bags full of apples, grapes, oranges, pineapples, guavas etc. (Shopping for these fruits two days earlier is another story) When they got back home they had big containers full of orange juice, grape juice, jam. They used to distribute everything among the three families. Sometimes they used to come back with surprise items like guava marmalade (this is the one I remember the most).

These are just very sweet memories....

Here is the recipe for Mango juice, it is more like a concentrate - you will need to add some cold water or water and ice to make the juice. I didnt add any preservatives or essence, cos according to my mom that might slightly change the taste.

Ingredients:
Mango pulp - 5 cups
Sugar - 4 cups
Water - 5 cups
Citric Acid - 2tsp

Method:

• Remove pulp from the mangoes. Keep aside.
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan, add sugar and water and let it come to a slow simmer.
• Dont simmer for too long, we just want the sugar to dissolve, around 10minutes on low flame.
• Add citric acid. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain the syrup to remove any impurities.
• After the sugar syrup is completely cooled, add the mango pulp and mix well.
• Pour into clean bottles and store in the fridge.

Notes: Make sure your hands are completely dry during the whole preparation and storing process. Pour about 1/3 of mango concentrate and the rest water to make a cup of mango juice.

Very tasty, home-made mango juice.

Bhindi Masaleydar - Masala Okra

Whenever we go out to eat, I try to order something new or something that I never had before(or never even heard of sometimes). My husband is more of a careful guy and not a risk taker. He ends up ordering the same item in most of the restaurants. I try to deconstruct the recipes that I have, so I can come home and try them.

I had this Bhindi masaleydhar in Shanghai (Epicure on 45, a revolving restaurant on the 45th floor of our hotel) and I liked it very much, so I tried it out as soon as I got back.

This is my version of Masala Bhindi and it came pretty close to what I had.

Ingredients:
Fresh Okra - 12-15 no.
Onion - 1 large chopped
Tomatoes - 1 large juicy chopped
Cumin powder - 1tsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - pinch
Curry paste - 1 tsp [I used Patak's mild curry paste]
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Wash and thoroughly dry okra. Cut into 1" pieces.
• Heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan, fry okra till browned on all sides. Remove and keep aside.
• Heat 1tsp of of oil and add 1/4 of the chopped onion. Fry till lightly browned. Remove and keep aside. After cooling grind the fried onions with the coriander, cumin and chili powder into a smooth paste using little water.
• Heat 2tsp of oil in the same pan, add asafoetida and onions. Fry till onions are transulent, then add tomatoes, onion paste and turmeric. Mix well and cook covered till tomatoes are done.
• Add fried okra, curry paste, garam masala and salt to the tomato gravy. Add water if it is too dry.
• Cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve with rice or chapathi.

Lentil Walnut Burger

I am late for this month's Lentil theme JFI#3 (Jihva for ingredients) hosted by Sailu. I hope she accepts my late entry.
I made Lentil-Walnut burger for our mini in-house barbeque for 4th of July. I saw them made on TV (pbs - channel 13) few weeks ago and wanted to give them a try(above pic is courtesy pbs tv). Adding cumin and coriander powders gave the burgers an Indian taste.

Ingredients:
Green Lentils - ¾ cup, cooked, drained and cooled
Toasted Walnuts - ¾ cup, cooled
Dried breadcrumbs - 1/3 cup (I used 3 potato bread slices and it worked just fine)
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ground Cumin - 2 tsp
Ground Coriander - 2 tsp
Red pepper flakes - ½ tsp
Large Egg - 1
Olive oil - 1tbsp
Salt and pepper - to taste

Method:

• In a food processor, combine walnuts, breadcrumbs (or bread slices), garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, salt (I used 1 ½ tsp and it was just right, but if you eat less salt, reduce the amount), and ¼ tsp pepper; process until finely ground.
• Add lentils and oil; pulse until coarsely chopped (some lentils should remain whole).
• In a large bowl, whisk egg and add lentil mixture; mix well.
• Divide mixture into equal size parts; roll into balls, and flatten with the palm of your hand into ¾ inch thick patties (I made 9 medium size patties).
• Heat a large nonstick skillet. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Add burgers; cook over medium-low heat until crisp and browned, turning gently with a spatula, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
• Serve hot.

I made Indira’s Sesame buns and had our burgers with mayo, ketchup and cheese. Really healthy and not very difficult to put together.