Nepali Foods You Must Eat

One should eat to live because thousands of recipes are cooked in 196 countries of the world. The number of foods is more than the number of countries. From the figures, it is clear that we can outlive neither food nor countries in terms of age or years. But we can eat these number of foods and visit 196 countries in our life. Eating is a human activity, and is linked with nationality, for example, national food. Just like every country gives importance to its citizen in times of natural calamities, every food is special to him or her in times of hunger.

When it comes to eating, there is a saying in Nepali, “Respect your food.” This also means do not waste it. We want our food fresh, not stale. We also want our food to be cooked properly. For every citizen, eating is a moment of pleasure, and in the course of life, every one of us wants to taste different types of food.

Nepali culture, which is a mixed culture, is also a culture, where different types of foods are cooked and eaten.
Here we present you a list of 24 Nepali foods you must eat when you are in Nepal. Try them if you find them in other countries too.

REGULAR FOODS

Dhal, Bhat and Tarkari

These three constituents form the regular lunch and dinner of Nepali. Dhal is a soup made of leguminous seeds, and may be cooked with onion, salt, and garlic; bhat is white edible grains; and tarkari could be a dish of vegetables or meat, cooked in oil, with onions, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and various spices. There is no Nepali, who has not consumed dhal, bhat, and tarkari in his or her life. This is a popular dish not only in the home, but also in the parties, restaurants, and hotels. And this dish is available from the west to the east and from the north to the south of Nepal. You can eat this dish with your hand. That is a Nepali style, while Dhal, Bhat, and tarkari is a national dish of Nepal.

Momo

Actually, this is a Tibetan food, but it has become the tastiest food of the Nepali people. Every Nepali has relished for this food. It is made by kneading white flour and water and is filled up with mince meat or mince cabbage, mixed with salt, ginger, onion, and spices. It is cooked by steaming. It will be unfair if you do not eat or taste this food. This is one of the famous foods of Nepal, and there is no point in arguing that momo has a distinctive taste. It is a savory dish and is served with condiments, made of tomatoes, or chillies, or “teel.”

Taas

This is a meat item ( lamb or chicken).  It is marinated by mixing with salt, cumming powder, corainder powder, meat masala, green chilli, turmeric, paste (garlic and ginger), and oil, overnight. It is cooked until it becomes red. It is served with condiment of radish as well as with rice. It also goes well with the third most popular drink of the world, beer.

TRADITIONAL FOODS

Gundruk 

This is a leafy vegetable, comprising rayo (Brassica compestris L var. cumifolia Roxb), mustard leaf ( Brassica  nigra), radish leaf (Raphanus sativusL) and cauliflower leaf (Brassica oleracea L var. botrytis), which has been dried off in the sun. It is free from moisture completely. Nepali makes condiment of gundruk by using these ingredients: oil, salt, green chili, salt, lemon, juice, garlic, and tomato. At first, gundruk is soaked in water. By compressing with fist, water is drawn out and is mixed with ingredients above. The condiment of gundruk stimulates the desire in you to eat more dhal, bhat, and tarkari. It is a kind of appetizer.

Sinki

It is a preserved leafy vegetable, similar to gundruk, but mainly comprises radish roots. The roots are wilted, shredded and then left to ferment via the action of several species of lactobacillus before drying in the sun.  

Kinema 

This food is popular in the eastern part of Nepal and is made from soya beans by boiling and fermenting. It has a pungent smell and can be eaten as a condiment or tarkari (curry) with bhat (rice). Its smell is understandable to the people of eastern Nepal. You do not see people consuming this food in other regions of Nepal.

Dhido 

This food is made of fine ground corn seeds or millet seeds. It is a sugar free dish and is prepared by boiling to thick consistency of porridge. It is also nutritious and is usually eaten with gundruk soup or with gravy lamb curry. Dhido is actually a simple flour pudding.

Sekuwa

This is a roasted and grilled meat item prepared by direct exposure to charcoal and natural wood. Before roasting, the meat is mixed with spices. Sekuwa could be the meat of pork, lamb, chicken, buffalo, and wild boar. It matches well with hard and soft drinks. We guarantee that Sekuwa will win your heart.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Tongba

This is a sweet alcoholic beverage. To prepare this beverage, first, matured, fermented, millet seeds (6 months) are put in a container of wood or silver and then boiled water is added to these seeds. This water heightens the mellow characteristic of seeds , and after 5 minutes, it is consumed with the help of a bamboo straw. Tongba is a heating Nepali beverage. You might become a devotee of this warm, sweet beverage, which is much closer to African traditional beer.

Aila

This is an alcoholic beverage of the Newari people (one of the castes of Nepal). It is prepared by fermenting rice, grain, and millet. It is usually homemade and is a traditional drink of Newari people, and it is easily available in the restaurants of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan. Apart from a casual beverage, Aila is also used in festivals. If Aila is marketed, it would symbolize Nepal in the global menu of liquors in the same way that tequila represents Mexico; vodka, Russia; and Sake, Japan.

Rakshi

This is a local liquor, made from millet or rice. It is strong just like vodka or gin. According to CNN’s list of World’s 50 most delicious drinks, it was ranked 41st. When you sip rakshi, you feel a burning sensation on your throat.

Chyang

This is white, milky, liquor, alcoholic, beverage, made from fermented rice or other grains. This beverage is made by passing hot water through fermented rice, and is then served in a silver bowl.

DESSERTS

Kheer

This food is a thick pudding, made of rice, milk, almonds, cashews, cardamon, raisins, saffrons, and sugar. It is prepared during festivals and special occasions. It is a mouth-watering dessert of Nepal. You can serve kheer as hot, warm, or chilled.

Juju Dhau

This is the “King of Curd.” It is a sweetened curd, and it originitaed in Bhaktapur, the oldest city of Nepal. A visit to Bhaktapur is incomplete without tasting Juju Dhau. It is made from cow’s milk or from buffalo’s milk. While preparing Juju Dhau, it is kept on porous clay pot so that the excess liquid from it evaporates slowly, leaving thick, delicious, creamy curd. This curd is served on a clay pot.

Sikarni

This is an exceptionally full flavored, creamy desert made from drained yogurt, which is sweetened with sugar, and which is flavored with saffron and green cardamom. •

Dahi 

In English, Dahi is called curd. It is a dairy product, prepared by coagulating milk. The coagulation can be caused by adding lemon, juice or vinegar. It is served in a clay pot, and it can be eaten with beaten rice as well.

OTHER NEPALI RELISHES

Koiralo Ko Achar

Koiralo is a flower. Its English name is Mountain Ebony. Its scientific name is Bauhinia Variegata L. It is eaten in Nepal as a vegetable, and it is also used to make pickle.

Bhakka

This food is prepared from rice flour. While preparing bhakka, the rice flour is placed in a small bowl, which is covered by the muslin cloth from the top, and which is cooked over the steam for about 5-10 minutes, produced by a special type of pot in which the water is boiling. The steaming process gelatinise the flour and make it edible cake like product known as bhakka. It is served along with macerated chilly and salt. It can also take along with fish curry , cauliflower and potato curry. It’s mostly consumed during the cold season.

Chatpate

This is an easy Nepali snack. It is sour, spicy, and hot, and it requires no cooking. It is prepared within 5 minutes by adding these ingredients: noodles, spicy mixture (dalmot), onion (1 small, finely chopped), chat masala (2 tea spoons), tomato (1 small, finely chopped), cilantro (3 table spoons, finely chopped), serrano peppers/green chilies (1-2, finely chopped), flattened rice (1 cup), puffed rice (1 cup), lime juice (2 table spoon), salt, and chilli powder.

Kwati

This is a thick soup, consisting of nine varieties of beans, such as black gram, green gram, chickpea, field bean, soyabean, field pea, garden pea, cow pea, and rice pea. Before cooking, these beans are soaked in water until their shoots come out.

Selroti

This is usually prepared at home during the festival of Tihar. It is big, ring shaped, whose width is smaller than of the doughnut. It is a mixture of rice flour, milk, water, sugar, butter, cardamom, cloves, and bananas. These ingredients are mixed well by stirring before cooking in a hot oil or ghee. From Nepal, sel roti is often sent as special gifts to family members living abroad.

Chiura

This is a beaten rice. It is made by soaking, draining, roasting, flaking the paddy, followed by removing of the husk.

Syabaji

This is a Newari food. Syabaji is made by roasting the beaten rice in sand and is lighter than the beaten rice.

Yomari

It is prepared by kneading rice flour using hot water. It is made into fig shaped. Solidified chaku mixed with powder of fried black sesame are put into it. It is steamed until it is cooked. It should serve while hot. Beside chaku, people also mince meat and black gram paste.

Durkha or Chhurpi

This is milk based, hard food, which is eaten in Nepal. Durkha is usually made in the mountainous region of Nepal. Yak milk is usually used to make dhurkha. Some durkhas are soft, some hard.

Thukpa

Originally, thukpa is a Tibetan food. It came to Nepal since time immemorial. The ingredients use for cooking Nepali thukpa are chilli powder, masala (spices), gram and pea soup. Nepali thukpa is as same as the Tibetan thukpa because the Tibetan immigrants prepare it. Thukpa is served in a bowl with the slices of meat of chicken and buff. In Tibetan language, thuk means heart, so thukpa is a heart-warming dish.

Anarsa

This is a cookie, and the ingredients used for making it are rice, ghee, sugar, cardamom, almond, cashew nuts, lemons, and white sesame seeds.

Above Nepali food have stood the test of time and have remained intact till date and are easily available even in the hotels and restaurants of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal