Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is the commercial capital of Vietnam.  It is named after Ho Chi Minh, the first President of Vietnam who led the Veit Minh war against the French. Earlier known as Saigon, it changed its name from Saigon in 1976 after the war against the Americans got over in 1975.

The place is developed drastically over a short span. Gone are the days of old Saigon, Starbucks, designer wear shops, dominate the place now.

a roadside monastery

Ho Chi Minh City Hall:
This French colonial style building is not open to public and is the office of City People's Committee.

Built in 1908, this building looks beautiful at night.

City Hall by night

Ben Thanh market:

A shopper's paradise, Ben Thanh market cannot be missed by the surrounding vibrant activity. Once inside, your eyes gleam with excitement and astonishment at the collection of  lacquer wares, Vietnam coffee, fruits, silk, groceries, souvenirs, handicrafts.  Even if you do not plan buying anything, just going around the small bylanes is an experience by itself.

looking for a good bargain

There is a small section where you can taste the local cuisine. Also are seen a variety of local fruits and vegetables.

so much stuff !

collection of lacquerware

Another thing I found interesting is a framed picture of insects. Look in the above picture, silk moths, butterflies, centipedes, spiders, beetles.

 snake wine

a closer look

Do stop by and notice the snake wine. Throughout Southeast Asia, venomous snakes are steeped in rice wine to make medicinal wines. Other animals used in these wines are scorpions, armadillos, geckos and even turtles. A heavily priced one being a tiger penis wine!
Many countries consider the export and import of this wine illegal.

Saigon central post office:

Adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral, is the central post office which was built when Vietnam was still a part of French Indochina.

It was designed and constructed by Gustave Eiffel who was the mastermind behind the construction of Eiffel tower and Statue of Liberty.

A portrait of Ho Chi Minh is seen straight ahead as you enter the building. The building clearly illustrates how important and well developed the postal service must have been at that time.

Lots of shops selling souvenirs crowd the building alley. A huge map can be seen mounted on the wall showing the Saigon region.

Notre Dame Cathedral:

The Cathedral was built by the French colonists after it won Saigon. It was earlier called Saigon church.

Built between 1863 and 1880, it has two bell towers on either side. A statue of Virgin Mary stands in front of the Cathedral.

Opera House:

Just opposite to Opera House is Highlands Coffee, and we enjoyed having Vietnamese coffee with coffee jelly. It was heavenly :)

Dining out:
Most of the people in this region prefer to dine out. By evening, all eating places start getting full. It is mainly a group eating, families or friends together.

We went to such a place and ordered a barbeque plate.

A smouldering coal oven with a mesh soon came to the table. Then came a selection of sea food and a bowl of soup. Since, I prefer to be a vegetarian, we ordered a plate of sauteed vegetables as well.

The skewered prawn and octopus is placed over the mesh and you turn them using chopsticks. The whole process is fun and it also gives time to chat in a group. Dunk the cooked food in spicy soy sauce. Fresh leaves go in your soup. What a wholesome dinner!

Some more place to visit, I might write about them in my next post.

Thechi mooli / Kumaoni radish raita

Thechi, in Kumaon means bruised or battered. This dish is made by bruising the radish, leaving it for some time with salt and then adding spices and seasonings. I remember my childhood days when it was almost a routine to sit out in the sun during winters and prepare this dish. The preparation itself used to be so tempting with scraping the radish in a steel thaali, bruising it on a sill, salting it and meanwhile peeling the lemon, taking out the filaments. It used to be a joint activity with everyone gossiping and sometimes popping a segment of lemon in mouth in between :)

Ingredients:
2 radish, washed and peeled
3 tbsp bhaanga seeds or sesame seeds
1 tbsp coriander and green chilli paste
1 tsp roasted cumin seed powder
lime wedges, only filaments needed
2 cups yogurt
sugar to taste
salt

Method:
Wash, peel radish.

Cut into long strips. This makes thrashing easier.

Cut them further into pieces.

A grinding stone (सिल बट्टा ) gives the best result. The long strips are placed on the stone and the radish are thrashed thus bruising them.
I don't have that grinding stone so used my pestle over a chopping board.

Take care of your fingers :(

Transfer the bruised radish to a bowl. Add salt liberally to the bowl. Mix properly.
Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes.
The purpose behind adding salt is to remove the juices from radish. Bruising breaks open the cell walls and is more effective than grating and salting them.

Squeeze to remove the juices. Throw the juice away, you wouldn't need it.

bhaanga

The above seeds are called bhaanga (भांगा) and impart a very good flavor to this dish. Bhaanga are the seeds of Cannabis. The seeds though come from the same plant have no psychoactive constituent and are completely safe to eat.
The roasted seeds have antiflatulence property and are added to vegetables which create flatulence as cabbage, pumpkin, radish. It is also made into a spicy chutney. The seeds are roasted and made into a powder. Since I did not have bhaanga seeds, I have substituted them with sesame seeds.
I will say that using sesame seeds in no way comparable to  bhaanga seeds but impart some nutty flavor.

In the hills, huge limes called jamir are used. But, in absence of those, one is contented using whatever lemon variety is available.

Put sesame seeds in a pan and roast on medium flame.

Roast seeds till light brown. Cool and grind into a powder.

In a bowl, add squeezed radish pieces, sesame seed powder, green chilli and coriander paste, lemon filaments, roasted cumin seed powder. Add salt according to taste.

Add curd, mix. I like a blend of flavors so add sugar to balance the sourness. Amount of sugar depends on your taste.
Stir, check seasonings.

Lastly, add chopped corinader leaves and green chillies.
Enjoy the sweet and sour lip smacking raita !