My blog readers (all three-ish of them) probably already know that I spent spring semester of 2007 studying abroad in Nepal. Even now, coming up on 8 years later, I still miss the country and the food tremendously. Until I have the funds to go back, I settle for cooking up a good old Nepali daal bhaat every now and then. Daal is the general term for any sort of soupy cooked legume or pulse, whole or split; common ones include red gram/lentil (masoor daal), black gram/lentil (urad daal), kidney beans (rajmaa), desi chickpeas (chana daal), and mung beans (moong daal). Bhaat is rice, the staff of life in South Asian countries, served at every meal or it's like you haven't eaten at all.
I enjoyed the meal below this past Saturday in the company of several good friends, one of whom has also been to Nepal. Moving clockwise from the bowl at left we have black gram daal, Basmati rice, bitter melon pickle (karela ko achaar), egg curry (onda ko tarkari), spinach (saag), potato salad (aalu ko achaar), store-bought Indian mango pickle (aap ko achaar), and a vegetable tarkari mixture originally intended for dumpling (momo) stuffing...oops.
After I posted the photo above on social media several friends asked for recipes, which can be found after the jump. Be aware that the feast above took hours and hours of work over two days. For a less time-intensive option, try a typical everyday combination: rice, daal, greens, and maybe one pickle/salad. As long as you have the basics, rice and daal, rest assured, you've got yourself a fine Nepali meal. :o) Traditionally, this would be eaten with the hands, but many Nepalis now use spoons instead. It's best to pour a little bit of daal on your rice and eat in combination, with bites of other goodies in between.
1. Daal from Jyoti Pathak's fine cookbook, Taste of Nepal. The recipe link leads to the author's own blog. If you don't have jimbu (Himalayan herb), which can be hard to find, just leave it out. Ditto the Schzechwan pepper (though you can get that from Penzey's). The other spices should be available in Indian groceries.
2. Basmati rice: cook on the stovetop or in a rice cooker with a little ghee. Ideally you rinse and soak the rice for a while beforehand too but I'm lazy.
3. Bitter melon pickle: I got the recipe from Taste of Nepal and don't feel right reproducing it here since it's not on the author's blog. If you Google around you can find many other freely shared options. Be aware that it's BITTER (duh) and rather an acquired taste.
4. Egg curry: Hard-boil a dozen eggs, cool, peel, and cut in half. To make the gravy, use a food processor to finely chop several peeled, quartered onions (I think I used about 3 medium-large ones for this batch), a couple big tomatoes, six-ish big cloves of garlic, and a peeled chunk of ginger about half the size of your thumb. Heat oil (veg or canola are probably best) in a large pot on medium-high and fry the food processor-ed mixture, stirring often, until the water is cooked out and you're not crying anymore, maybe about 10 minutes? It's KEY to cook this long enough or the gravy will be bitter from the onions. Add spices to taste: I'd start with a tsp each of turmeric/cumin/coriander, and then cayenne/black pepper/salt to taste. I also add a few pinches of sugar to counteract any bitterness remaining in the onions. A few shakes of garam masala and/or curry powder would be great too. Stir and fry a bit longer until it smells like delicious toasty spices. Thin your mixture out with some water until it's a consistency you like, cover, and simmer for 20-30min. Add your hard-boiled egg halves, stir gently, and simmer gently for a few minutes longer to heat the eggs through. Finish with lots of chopped cilantro. Optional: you can also smear the egg halves with a paste of water, cornstarch, cumin, turmeric, chili, and salt and deep-fry before adding to the gravy.
5. Greens: I did a spinach preparation with mustard oil and fenugreek seeds from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, but here's something similar with mustard greens. Mustard - the greens, the oil, the seeds, everything - is very Nepali. Its beautiful yellow flowers cover fields throughout the country in winter, as it's a cold-weather crop.
6. Potato salad: My favorite thing ever, recipe courtesy of the awesome cooks at my study abroad program, CNSP. Yes, the recipe is in metric measurements, sorry. You're smart and will figure it out!
+1.5kg potatoes (Yukon gold or red would be best, russets would be too dry/crumbly)
+10-15 green Thai chilies, finely chopped (I did 5 and it was spicy enough for me)
+100g toasted and ground sesame seeds
+1 tsp turmeric
+Fenugreek seed (methi) from the Indian grocery
+Half a large bunch of cilantro, or more to taste
+2-3 large lemons, juiced
+3 tsp salt
Boil potatoes until soft. Allow to cool, then peel and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat some vegetable oil (Tb or two) in a pan and fry a bit of fenugreek seed (I used about 20) until light brown, add your green chilies. When chilies are fried and fenugreek seed is dark brown, turn off burner, stir salt and turmeric into the oil, and dump in with the potatoes. Stir to combine. Add chopped cilantro, lemon juice, sesame seeds, and enough water to make a paste/coating (3/4 cup or so). Mix gently and well. Allow to rest at least 30min for flavors to combine. Typically served chilled or room temp. I sometimes add a little chopped scallion with the cilantro. Enjoy!
7. Momos (dumplings, not pictured): Momos can be filled with meat (goat or lamb would be good, people do chicken and tofu too) or veggies, or a combo. Here's an example recipe that walks you through making a homemade spice mix and wrappers from scratch. You can also just use wonton wrappers and buy some Century Momo Masala, which is what I did. Mmm!
8. Momo dipping sauce (also not pictured): I did this from scratch, but I'd just recommend getting a big 28-oz can of peeled diced tomatoes to save yourself a lot of trouble. Boil them with a couple Tb each of ginger and garlic paste to taste, plus salt, chili, turmeric, and cumin. Blend with an immersion blender if you want it smoother. Let it cool and serve with momo.
रामरोसंग खानूहोस! (Raamro sanga khaanuhos, bon appétit!)
I enjoyed the meal below this past Saturday in the company of several good friends, one of whom has also been to Nepal. Moving clockwise from the bowl at left we have black gram daal, Basmati rice, bitter melon pickle (karela ko achaar), egg curry (onda ko tarkari), spinach (saag), potato salad (aalu ko achaar), store-bought Indian mango pickle (aap ko achaar), and a vegetable tarkari mixture originally intended for dumpling (momo) stuffing...oops.
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| All of the noms. ALL OF THEM. |
After I posted the photo above on social media several friends asked for recipes, which can be found after the jump. Be aware that the feast above took hours and hours of work over two days. For a less time-intensive option, try a typical everyday combination: rice, daal, greens, and maybe one pickle/salad. As long as you have the basics, rice and daal, rest assured, you've got yourself a fine Nepali meal. :o) Traditionally, this would be eaten with the hands, but many Nepalis now use spoons instead. It's best to pour a little bit of daal on your rice and eat in combination, with bites of other goodies in between.
1. Daal from Jyoti Pathak's fine cookbook, Taste of Nepal. The recipe link leads to the author's own blog. If you don't have jimbu (Himalayan herb), which can be hard to find, just leave it out. Ditto the Schzechwan pepper (though you can get that from Penzey's). The other spices should be available in Indian groceries.
2. Basmati rice: cook on the stovetop or in a rice cooker with a little ghee. Ideally you rinse and soak the rice for a while beforehand too but I'm lazy.
3. Bitter melon pickle: I got the recipe from Taste of Nepal and don't feel right reproducing it here since it's not on the author's blog. If you Google around you can find many other freely shared options. Be aware that it's BITTER (duh) and rather an acquired taste.
4. Egg curry: Hard-boil a dozen eggs, cool, peel, and cut in half. To make the gravy, use a food processor to finely chop several peeled, quartered onions (I think I used about 3 medium-large ones for this batch), a couple big tomatoes, six-ish big cloves of garlic, and a peeled chunk of ginger about half the size of your thumb. Heat oil (veg or canola are probably best) in a large pot on medium-high and fry the food processor-ed mixture, stirring often, until the water is cooked out and you're not crying anymore, maybe about 10 minutes? It's KEY to cook this long enough or the gravy will be bitter from the onions. Add spices to taste: I'd start with a tsp each of turmeric/cumin/coriander, and then cayenne/black pepper/salt to taste. I also add a few pinches of sugar to counteract any bitterness remaining in the onions. A few shakes of garam masala and/or curry powder would be great too. Stir and fry a bit longer until it smells like delicious toasty spices. Thin your mixture out with some water until it's a consistency you like, cover, and simmer for 20-30min. Add your hard-boiled egg halves, stir gently, and simmer gently for a few minutes longer to heat the eggs through. Finish with lots of chopped cilantro. Optional: you can also smear the egg halves with a paste of water, cornstarch, cumin, turmeric, chili, and salt and deep-fry before adding to the gravy.
5. Greens: I did a spinach preparation with mustard oil and fenugreek seeds from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, but here's something similar with mustard greens. Mustard - the greens, the oil, the seeds, everything - is very Nepali. Its beautiful yellow flowers cover fields throughout the country in winter, as it's a cold-weather crop.
6. Potato salad: My favorite thing ever, recipe courtesy of the awesome cooks at my study abroad program, CNSP. Yes, the recipe is in metric measurements, sorry. You're smart and will figure it out!
 |
| Indescribably delicious. |
+10-15 green Thai chilies, finely chopped (I did 5 and it was spicy enough for me)
+100g toasted and ground sesame seeds
+1 tsp turmeric
+Fenugreek seed (methi) from the Indian grocery
+Half a large bunch of cilantro, or more to taste
+2-3 large lemons, juiced
+3 tsp salt
Boil potatoes until soft. Allow to cool, then peel and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat some vegetable oil (Tb or two) in a pan and fry a bit of fenugreek seed (I used about 20) until light brown, add your green chilies. When chilies are fried and fenugreek seed is dark brown, turn off burner, stir salt and turmeric into the oil, and dump in with the potatoes. Stir to combine. Add chopped cilantro, lemon juice, sesame seeds, and enough water to make a paste/coating (3/4 cup or so). Mix gently and well. Allow to rest at least 30min for flavors to combine. Typically served chilled or room temp. I sometimes add a little chopped scallion with the cilantro. Enjoy!
7. Momos (dumplings, not pictured): Momos can be filled with meat (goat or lamb would be good, people do chicken and tofu too) or veggies, or a combo. Here's an example recipe that walks you through making a homemade spice mix and wrappers from scratch. You can also just use wonton wrappers and buy some Century Momo Masala, which is what I did. Mmm!
8. Momo dipping sauce (also not pictured): I did this from scratch, but I'd just recommend getting a big 28-oz can of peeled diced tomatoes to save yourself a lot of trouble. Boil them with a couple Tb each of ginger and garlic paste to taste, plus salt, chili, turmeric, and cumin. Blend with an immersion blender if you want it smoother. Let it cool and serve with momo.
रामरोसंग खानूहोस! (Raamro sanga khaanuhos, bon appétit!)
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| I recommend a thorough massage from your बिरालो (biraalo, cat) masseuse after the meal. |
Well, my favorite part is the ending, of course. :o)
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