China Town

This is about the quintessential Chinese food that was so difficult to get during these 5 months. And no matter how much we try, the home made chinese never really touches the level of the restaurant made version and the restaurant made chinese will never rise upto the level of the 'thela' made version, where a single wok is capable of dishing out the tastiest (and simplest) chinese dishes. 

My first encounter with the Chinese food was with a new small eatery that had opened just round the corner of my home in Nagpur. "Step in" was the name of the eatery and a Nepali kid used to cook there. My sister and I would go there at least once in a week, just to have one serving of the amazing hot and sour chicken soup (that we divided into 1/2 each) and if time and money permitted, a dish of dry chilli chicken to go with it. 'Divine' is how I would describe the taste! Haven't come across a better variety since then.   

Each city has it own flavour to add to a dish from any place. For eg, Punjabi food from Gujarat would taste the same in any restaurant of Ahmedabad. Likewise the Chinese food that I had in Gujarat tastes same everywhere, there is this extra sweetness added to each dish, and the taste though is fine with me now, never really steps up to the 'Step in' taste. 

Ching's has come to the rescue of moms like me, who have this responsibility of feeding the chinese food to kids irrespective of the circumstances. So, here is what I cooked  - Chowmein, Veg Manchurian, veg Fried Rice, Garlic fried rice (as vegetables were out of market), Stir fried chicken in hot garlic sauce, Paneer babycorn in schezuan sauce, Paneer chilli and Hakka noodles..

A handy tip perhaps- add a small boiled and mashed potato to the veg Manchurian balls. Adds to the texture and makes them extra succulent..