Nepal
Dal bhat twice daily, a momo obsession, and Newari feasts from the Kathmandu Valley — fuel for the trek.
On any trekking trail the plate that keeps you moving is dal bhat — lentil soup over rice with a spiced vegetable tarkari and fiery pickle — eaten twice a day, and refilled until you wave it off, under the porters' mantra 'dal bhat power, 24 hour'. It's the honest heart of Nepali food, but the country's real obsession is the momo: steamed or fried dumplings pleated shut over spiced buffalo, chicken or vegetables, dipped in tomato-sesame achar.
The gastronomic high point is Newari, the feasting cuisine of the Kathmandu Valley — a ceremonial samay baji platter of beaten rice, grilled choila buffalo, black soybeans and egg, laid out for festivals. Up in the high Himalaya the food turns Tibetan and warming: thukpa noodle soup, potatoes, salty butter tea. Rings of sweet sel roti fry for the holidays, and in the eastern hills you sip warm millet beer, tongba, through a bamboo straw.
- Dal bhat (lentils
- rice & vegetables)
- Momo (dumplings)
- Newari samay baji (ceremonial platter)
- Choila (spiced grilled buffalo)
- Thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup)
- Sel roti (sweet rice-flour ring)
- Gundruk (fermented greens)
