PF Chang's China Bistro

When your in the land where people look at customer reviews for almost everything..hotels..travel...electronics...housing...and just about anything, you get driven to start writing reviews too !!!

So here's my first attempt at writing reviews on the restaurants that I have been to. Last night I had dinner at PF Changs, a chinese bistro in Autin, TX. It was not my first time there, and like everyother time I was looking forward to some good chinese food and you bet they did not disappoint.

Chinese food is real popular in India and being a big fan of it, I was in for a lot of disappointment whenever I tried the local chinese restaurants here in the US. I was almost giving up hope on savouring good Chinese fare which satisfies the Indian palate. Chinese food in the US tastes wayyyy different from what you get in India, and you would be lucky if you could find a place that served chinese food to suit the Indian taste. I guess I was lucky :)

If your among the desi population who loves chinese food, dont miss visiting PF Changs. The menu is great and the food tastes even better. The food in its unique way suits the Indian taste. Try their kung pao chicken, dan dan noodles or their dali chicken and you would be left wanting for more. I was never a big fan of noodles, but it was here that I developed a love for this and I dont regret it at all.

But before you visit this place, you might want to make a reservation, coz like all other popular restaurants, the wait time can sometimes be more than 15 mins, especially on the weekend. So a simple call will make sure you can get a seat easily. And thats not it, during peak hours service might be a little slow. But I assure you, once served, you would forget all about the longgg wait times !!

So all you folks who love some good chinese food, dont miss PF Chang's. My mouth's already watering ;)

Hot, Hotter and Hottest !!!

Texas is populary known as the 'Lone Star State'. The flag for the state of Texas has a single golden star on a blue background. It signified Texas as an independant republic and was symbolic of Texas's struggle for independance from Mexico.

I was told that Texas is a dry and arid area, which is quite different from both the west and east coasts. So when I landed in Texas in January, I was expecting the weather to not be as cold as the east coast. But I was in for a surprise, the weather indeed was tooo cold for me !!! Well it has to be...for someone who went there from one of the hottest places in India. But I know what the east coast dwellers would say ! The weather there was worse.

So anyways, I struggled through the chill weather, trying to be confined to my cozy warm home. And slowly the months rolled by and finally three months later in April....I was in the midst of a furnace !!! Where had the cold, chilllllll weather disappeared I wondered. The weather was getting to be incredibly worse..this time coz it was wayyyy too hot !!! And again I tried to be confined to my home ;) !!! What a turn of events !! And to top it all, Mr Sun (may be Ms. ;) ) never seemed to want to take a break. It was bright and shining till abt half past eight or nine.

If anyone dared to step out and brave the sweltering heat, it would give them a feel for what being in a furnace felt like !!! Now, we are in mid July, and it still seems to be progressively getting worse. Its been constant 100+ degrees for the past couple of days and the word around is, we are going to have 100 days of 100+ temperature. God save us !!!

Whoever said Chennai was THE HOTTEST !!!

Chicken Stew

So I tried my hand at cooking one of my mom's signature dishes - Chicken Stew. Stew was always a favourite. The best part is you could use Chicken, Fish, Vegetables and just about anything and the stew would always turn out to be yummmmyyy !!!!

So I called my mom one weekend and asked her to give me her treasured recipie. Thanks to the internet, I had a live cooking session with my mom :D :D...aint that cool. So I turned on my webcam...placed the laptop on the kitchen counter and then started cooking chicken stewwww....with my mom giving me step by step instructions - LIVE !!!

And as you can guess...it turned out to be one of the best dishes that I have ever cooked..yayyy !! So for the benefit of house wives, and well...bachelors..spinsters...desi folks and just about anyone who wants to try thier hand at cooking some good stew...here is the recipie...hope you'll enjoy it and do leave your feedback in the comments !!
The cast of characters include:

2 tbsp oil
2 bay leaves, 1” cinnamon, 3 cloves
3 garlic pods
1 medium sized onion
2 -3 green chilies
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 – 1 ½ medium sized tomatoes
1 medium sized potato
½ cup coconut milk
1 lb chicken

Method

Heat the oil in a cooking pan. Add the spices – bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add the finely chopped garlic and continue to stir fry. Once the garlic turns brown, add the chopped onions, green chilies, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Sauté the onions till the onions also turn brown. Add the diced tomatoes and stir fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Keeping the flame on high, add the chicken and potatoes. Stir on high flame till the outer coat of the chicken is cooked and turns white. Lower the flame, add little water and continue until the chicken and potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Once done, add the coconut milk and cook on low flame for about five minutes or until it starts boiling. Do not over cook after adding the coconut milk. Cook just until it first starts boiling. Garnish with coriander leaves. The chicken stew is ready to be served :)

In the beginning.....

Doesnt the blog title sound a lil biblical - "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth..." ? ( And for those who have not yet got accustomed to my style of writing or are not familiar with sms acronyms ... lil means 'little'. Ok ok...i know most of you might have known that, but believe me ..when i first used lil....almost everyone asked me wat lil meant !! )

This blog is all about my first few days in the united states. It wasnt my first time here, so it wasnt all new, but it was a new place, a new family and definitely a whole new life !!!

New York City -- the city of dreams, an absolute delight for anyone visiting this place for the first time and if you happened to land in New York at night, it would be the most jaw dropping view one would have. Tall skyscrapers beautifully lit...looks almost like it reaches into the sky beyond, beautifully dressed men and women...and an absolutely delightful atmosphere.

Lets take a quick quiz here...what tamil song first comes to your mind when you hear NEW YORK....I would place my bet that the majority would have said 'New York Nagaram Urangum Nerum'...right ??..no ??? (well..i honeslty could not think of another song )....

So quizzes apart....it was such a delight to just land in this beautiful city...but that was just the beginning. !! But let me tell you this...New York was not the final destination...so another post on New York will follow later.

As luck would have it....our connecting fligt was delayed...and worse...we had to spend an entire night at the airport !! Well...one might say thats a good time to go around the city, but well...with 5 huge suitcases that just seemed impossible....so wait we did till the break of dawn...

With the crisp morning air bringing renewed energy...it was time to go. TEXAS, here I come :)

Blogging...Again ???

Well...the last time I blogged was probably two-three years back..started it for the fun of it...and then...did not have to time to be active on it...

Anyways...now I am back at it...and hoping to make this blog an interesting read for all :)

I am not an english scholar...so dont you go finding fault with my use of the english lang..lol....my blog is not definitely for those looking for a course in english literature...its casual...its easy going...and its just everyday ramblings...

So hope you all have fun ! Happy readin !!!