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| Bara (lentil pancakes) in making |
I find that I like Nepali food, they are tasty. Here are some ideas of Nepali food to try.
Nepali Khana Set / Thali Set
Nepali Khana or Thali set are served on a brass plate for food to be warm longer. They are typically consisted of bhaat (rice), daal (lentils), tarkari (vegetables), achaar (pickles), salads (usually some raw vegetables for crunch). If you opt for non vegatarian set, it would come with a type of protein.
Or you would see dal bhat which is lentils and rice, or dal bhat tarkari which is lentils, rice and vegetable curry.
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| Veg khana set from Nepal Khaja Ghar, NPR 255 |
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| Also vege khana set from a shop in Pokhara, NPR 300 |
Samay Baji
Samay Baji is an authentic traditional dish of Newar community in Nepal. Newar people are the indigenous people of the Kathmandu Valley. It is typically served during special occasions and ceremonies. I had this in Bhaktapur in a restaurant name Newa Lahana. If you only want to try one dish in Nepal, please eat this.
Here are the components included in the Samay Baji I had - small Samay Baji buff.
In the middle, bottom:
Beaten rice (chiura) - This is a type of flattened / beaten rice and tasted like uncooked rolled oats but flatter.
On top of the beaten rice - I think this is one is chatamari (bara can be included in samay baji as well)
Clockwise from hard boiled egg:
Hard boiled egg - as an added protein to the dish
Chhwela - roasted buffalo meat
Bhatmas - roasted and seasoned black soybeans, the crunchy element
Achar - pickles
Aloo wala - spicy potatoes
Another buffalo dish
Buffalo choila
Black-eyed peas
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| Small Samay Baji buff from Newa Lahana, NPR 390 |
Rice and curry
Not the whole set but just curry served with a lot of rice.
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| Rice & vegetables curry at guesthouse in Sarangkot, NPR 230 |
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| Rice & egg curry at Samsara in Bandipur, NPR 250 |
I don't know why I take questionable photo like this. It wasn't midway eaten, I just asked for the rice to be halved because I would not be able to finish it. Don't know why I didn't move the fish to the big plate.
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| Rice, vege and fish in Kathmandu, NPR 220 |
Momo
This is Nepal's version of dumplings and is probably one of the most popular street food in Nepal. There are a few varieties to choose from - steamed, fried kothey (steamed with pan-fried crispy bottom), jhol (soup), sadeko (spicy salad).
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| Kothey buff momo + banana lassi at Pokhara Momo, NPR 300 |
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| Steamed vege momo at Bhaktapur guesthouse, NPR 250 |
Thukpa
This is Tibetan cuisine but very popular in Nepal. I noticed a few times I ordered chicken as the protein but given buffalo instead. Weird coincidences. I ordered mixed thukpa - noodles mixed with momo.
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| Mixed buff momo from Himalayan Dorjee Restaurant, NPR 180 |
Chow mein
I see chow mein in the menu of many shops. I guess similarly to thukpa, this could be from Chinese influenced. The portion was huge, this one I didn't finish.
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| Vege chow mein, NPR 220 |
Choila
This is a typical Newari dish, traditionally popular with water buffalo meat. I ordered the chicken choila from a random shop near the guesthouse. I wished I remembered where it is but I took a random turning on my walk back to the guesthouse and saw 'choila' written on a blackboard menu stand outside a shop. So I just walked in for dinner. It was very tasty and had a good spice kick.
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| Chicken choila, NPR 375 |
Bara / wo (lentil pancake)
Bara or wo is a pancake made with lentils. They can be served with a fried egg cooked on top or minced buffalo meat or both. I had it first in Patan, at a small shop named Honacha which is at Patan Durbar Square behind Krishna Mandir. I walked it, found a seat by the door placed my order of a mixed bara. I was asked if I wanted potatoes too which I said yes. It looked like potato sadeko but this dish didn't come. So I only had the bara.
The second time I had a bara was the free breakfast in Bhaktapur before I left for the airport.
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| Mixed bara at Honacha, NPR 70 |
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| Bara for breakfast in Bhaktapur |
Chatamari
Chatamari is known as the Nepali pizza. It doesn't taste like pizza though, just looks round. It is made of rice flour. I had this egg chatamari at Falcha Cafe in Bandipur. The one I had didn't look like the images I found online though.
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| Egg chatamari from Falcha Cafe in Bandipur, NPR 200 |
Wai Wai Chatpate
When I was in Nepal, I saw many people holding a snack with Wai Wai plastic packet and I got curious and asked some fellow Dumre-Kathmandu bus commuters when we stopped for lunch. They told me it was tasty and offered me to taste. I decided to order my own when I got to Kathmandu. It is a snack with mixture of dried instant noodles, puffed rice, nuts, spices, etc. The taste was tangy and spicy. The snack was scooped using another piece of paper.
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| Chatpate, NPR 50 |
Sel roti
This is a traditional Nepalese ring-shaped sweet fried dough made from rice flour. This was my after hike snack from Panauti to Namabuddha.
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| From a shop near Namobuddha bus stop, NPR 55 with a bottle of water |
Yomari
The word 'yomari' combines the word 'yo' and 'mari'. 'Yo' means 'favorite' or 'loved' and 'mari means 'bread'. This traditional delicacy is a steamed rice dumpling shaped like a fig fruit and stuffed with a mixture of brown cane sugar, ghee and sesame seeds (chaku). The texture is like mochi but with Newari flavours. I had this as my dessert in Newa Lahana in Bhaktapur.
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| Chaku yomari, NPR 90 |
Juju dhau
Juju dhau literally translates 'king of yogurt' in Nepal. It is a specialty of the town of Bhaktapur. A good juju dhau will not fall when tipped upside down. I think this article on how Juju dhau is made is interesting. It is tasty, and probably because of the boiling process with brown sugar.
I stupidly thought I need to return the clay pot that contained the juju dhau only to be told I can throw it away.
Side note: TGIW!
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