Flavours of Nepal

I crave for the authentic traditional food wherever I go. While in Rajasthan, we strived to have the authentic Dal-Baati-churma combo and fortunately got lucky once. Likewise, I research a lot about the traditional methods of cooking and serving in which ever country we travel. It’s fun and satisfies my urge to know in depth about the history of culture and specifically cuisine of that Country. There are many countries where I yearn to go just to have the taste of their authentic food. Nepal is one such country in my list. ( And truly, I do have a list !! )

Nepalese cuisine has been a mystery for me since long. While I was in College, many teenagers from north-eastern states were my neighbours and each one of them had his own story about the food and culture of the state. The common thing about them was they were highly instigated by the beauty and culture of Nepal which made me even more prying to  visit the place. Well, that will be possible only in due course, meanwhile I am here to host an event for the flavours of Nepal. Let me present some facts about the Country :

Most Nepalese people eat 2 meals a day at around 10am and 6pm with a number of small snacks and tea in between. Eating is always in the home and going to a restaurant is unheard of except in cities. In normal way Nepalese people’s food habit can be marked as a rice culture social adoption. Nepalese main course of meal known as Dal-Bhat-Tarkari traditionally which is perfect combination of carbohydrate, protein, vitamin, mineral, and fat. In the hills where rice is expensive the Nepalese substitute rice for dhedo which is a mixture of flour and water or butter. Dhedo is similarly eaten in Tibet. The most common snack is called momo and is a meat/veg dumpling served with spicy soup and a tangy tomato dip.

Nepal food varies from region to region and from one ethnic group to the other. The Terai cuisine is often very similar to the Indian recipes, but there are variations among the Tharu and the other ethnic groups. The Himalayan cuisine, extremely delicious, constitutes chiefly the diet of the Tibetans and also of the ethnic groups inhabiting the northern parts of Nepal. The recipes are quite simple and easy to cook and make very tasty food rich in nutrition. The basic ingredients of Nepal food usually include ginger, coriander, garlic, chilies, cumin, pepper, cilantro, ghee, mustard oil and at times yak butter. Spices are extensively used in Nepal recipes. Though Nepal cuisine is quite basic and does not require elaborate preparations, yet they sum up to delicious mouth-watering recipes.

Enough about the culture, and I hope you must also be intrigued to know more about it. Just get on to your Karm-bhumis and cook something for the name of this wonderful land. You can take some help from websites like these :

http://www.food-nepal.com/recipe/vegetarian.html

http://asiarecipe.com/nepveg.html

Here are the rules :

1. Prepare any Nepalese dish and link it to this announcement and Nayna of Simply Food original announcement page.
2. You can send multiple entries and archived posts, but should be reposted and linked back to this page.
3. Place subject line as ''Flavours of Nepal'' and send in your entries in the format below:
Name:
Blog Name:
Recipe :
Recipe URL:
Include image no larger than 300 pixels
4. Although usage of Logo is not mandatory, using it helps spread the word.

5. Send in your entries at : nupurs.kitchen@gmail.com
6.  Post the recipes between 1st Feb - 29th Feb 2012.
7. Both veg and non-veg entries are allowed, except Pork and Beef. 


Expecting some brilliant entries from you all .. Cheers !