Going to visit any country, tourists are interested in its gastronomic essence. The cuisine of Nepal is amazing not only by its appearance and aroma, but also by its unusual taste. Here live about 100 ethnic groups, which differ in their traditions , including cooking.
Formation of national cuisine in Nepal
Local people prefer to eat healthy and fragrant food. The cuisine of Nepal was formed on the basis of the culinary traditions of Tibet, China and India, with the addition of European culture in recent years. The main food products are rice, lentils, wheat and fresh vegetables, occasionally in the diet is meat.
The food here has 3 main features: delicious, spicy and varied, it is prepared in oil from mustard, yak and ghee milk. In Nepal, all kinds of seasonings and herbs are used:
- cilantro;
- caraway;
- yellow saffron;
- nutmeg;
- ginger;
- spicy turmeric;
- hot red pepper;
- coriander;
- Himalayan herbs (for example, Allium hypsistum), which grow only in this region and give the dishes a rich flavor.
Fruits and vegetables local cheeses salted, marinated, stewed and boiled, achieving an unusual taste. In the country they grow buckwheat, corn, tomatoes and potatoes. In Nepal, there are special culinary traditions, which must adhere to and tourists:
- You can not eat together from one plate or drink from one glass;
- be sure to wash your hands before you sit down;
- traditions also prohibit eating with the left hand;
- you can not touch someone else's dish;
- as a cutlery is used to use the fingers of the right hand. But on demand, tourists usually bring cutlery.
Traditional dishes in the country
Usually locals eat 2 times a day: morning and evening, after sunset, and the rest of the time they drink black tea with milk and eat light snacks. The most popular and traditional dish in Nepal is dal-baht. Local residents can eat it every day and several times a day.
The dish is a boiled rice with lentil sauce. It is combined with meat, fish, eggs, spices, onions, peppers, vegetables or fruits. Serve this food in a special tin plate, which consists of segments where the ingredients are laid out. To them is attached a bread cake, and it is necessary to eat all this by hands.
In the country, other dishes are widely used, which Nepalese use almost daily:
- Momo - vareniki with vegetables and meat, they are cooked for a couple and served with pepper and spicy sauce;
- Chicken Chile - a hearty and delicious dish of chicken meat, to which spices and tomatoes are added;
- Tukpa - it is prepared in the form of soup of noodles, meat, cabbage, green onions, bell peppers and tomatoes;
- Sizler - a dish is a grilled yak meat along with potatoes, vegetables and mushroom sauce fried in the fire;
- Sekuva - chicken, buffalo, lamb or pork meat, cooked on the grill;
- Chataamari - pancakes from rice flour with meat, eggs;
- Sanya - dried fish;
- Kachila - raw ground pickled meat, prepared from buffalo meat, served with ginger sauce;
- Kva Ghasa - thick soup of vegetables and any meat;
- Sapumhicha - bone marrow, which is prepared in the shell of the stomach;
- Cho-hee - braised brains and buffalo blood served with spices.
Vegetarians should try these dishes:
- Tsampa - porridge, cooked from wheat, rice, barley flour;
- Badji or Chivra - pre-soaked rice, which is beaten with a mallet until it turns into flakes. Served with curry or yogurt;
- Jaa - rice with vegetables, lentils and curry;
- Wauncha - a dish of vegetables only green;
- Musia - a mixture of beans and ginger, fried in oil;
- Quanti - soup of 9 different sprouted legumes with the addition of spices and spices;
- Punchcha - sour soup of berries;
- Tama - soup, prepared from dry shoots of bamboo, spices and herbs;
- Gundruk - pickled leaves of various vegetables;
- Alu Tahmah - stew from potatoes, beans and bamboo shoots;
- Sherkam - hard smoked cheese, made from yak or chauri milk.
Food in Nepal is not as acute as in neighboring countries, while it is quite diverse and depends on the areas. For example, in the highland part of the country potatoes are slightly not cooked, so that the core is moist. This is done to ensure that the food is digested longer, and the feeling of hunger comes later.
Popular drinks
The cuisine of Nepal has a large number of not only dishes, but also beverages. The most popular of them are:
- Bo-cha is black tea, which is consumed not only in its pure form, but also with the addition of sugar, butter, cream or milk;
- Milk yak and cooked from it sour-milk products;
- Masala-tea (Nepali chiya) - is prepared from melted milk and spices;
- Dahi is yogurt, which is drunk separately or served to rice;
- Lassi - is prepared on the basis of yogurt, with the addition of salt and sugar;
- Chang - alcoholic beverage, similar to beer, cooked on the basis of rice, millet or barley;
- Rahkshi is rice wine.
Desserts in Nepal
The most delicious sweets in the country are prepared from milk and fruits: mango, lemon, banana, papaya, voskovnitsa, Asian pear, lime, etc. When traveling in the country, be sure to try these dishes:
- Sikarni - whipped yogurt with the addition of sugar, cinnamon, nuts, cardamom and dried fruits;
- Yomari - a dish of rice flour, black molasses and sesame, steamed;
- Malpois - sweet pancakes;
- Lalmokhan - balls, soaked in syrup and fried with wheat flour;
- Lakhamari - a dish of butter, sugar and flour;
- Razbari - balls from cottage cheese, soaked in sweet syrup;
- Barfy - milk fudge;
- Lada - sweet tortillas of dried fruits and chickpeas;
- Jalebi - crispy fried pretzels, which were pre-soaked in syrup;
- Dzhuju dhow - a dessert of curdled milk and cream.
If you do not like sweet things, but you still want to try some local pastries, then pay attention to the following dishes:
- Naan - a flat cake made from wheat dough;
- Yomari - rice bread with filling;
- Chapati is a flat cake baked from wheat flour;
- Nimki - Nepalese crackers;
- Puri - fried cakes from wheat flour;
- Papadam - thin bread from lentil flour.
Food in Nepal is appreciated by local people primarily as a source of energy, so it is treated with reverence and trepidation.
The cuisine in Nepal is cheap and varied, so you will not stay hungry. You can have a snack and eat at any cafe and restaurant, because the prices are quite affordable.