FOOD IN NEPAL: NEPALI AND NEWARI CUISINE, ETHNIC DISHES AND UNUSUAL SNACKS

FOOD IN NEPAL

Traditional foods include dahl baht (a yellowish soup made from lentils poured on rice) and rice and beans flavored with spinach, onions and yogurt. “Achhar” (pickels) are a common side dishes and also serve as spices. They can be sweet, bitter, sour or spicy. Ghee is a clarified butter without any solid milk particles or water. It is used in Nepal, India and throughout the South Asia in daily cooking. It can be very heavy. In Nepal there are at least three different words for rice: one that denotes rice in the field, a second for rice in the granary and third for cooked rice. Some Nepalese make chocolate cake with garlic.

Amount of calories consumed each day: 2,340, compared to 1,590 in Eritrea and 3,800 in the United States. [Source: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Wikipedia ]

Nepalis have traditionally felt a meal was not complete unless it included a couple of heaping portions of rice. They typically two large rice meal each day — during midmorning and in the early evening — that is accompanied by dal, tarkari (a cooked vegetable) and pickled achar, made of a fruit or vegetable. In poorer, higher-altitude areas, where it is hard to grow rice, people eat potatoes, barley tsampa (a Tibetan staple) or dhiro, a thick porridge made of corn or millet. In urban areas roti, India-style flat bread, is often eaten instead of rice. [Source: “Countries and Their Cultures”, The Gale Group Inc., 2001]

Nepalese Cuisine

Nepal does not really have a distinctive cooking style. Nepali cuisine is similar to Indian cuisine. Curry dishes are popular. Food habits vary depending on the region and group. Nepali food has been influenced by Indian and Tibetan styles of cooking. The most unique and authentic Nepali tastes are found in Newari and Thakali cuisines. [Source: Nepal Tours & Travel]

Some Nepalese foods and traditions are unique because Nepal was closed to the outside world for centuries. Due to this, the Nepalese food had a minimum influence by foreign ingredients. It was only after 1950 that Nepal opened its borders to the outside world. Newars cuisine is most evident in the Kathmandu Valley and the three Newar sister cities of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur

Meat from yaks, water buffalo, chicken, “khasi” (castrated goat) and goat and sometimes lamb are available. Tibetan Buddhist don’t eat fish. Many Hindus don't eat fish or eggs. When beef is served it comes from water buffalo or a yak. Ordinary Nepalese often have meat a once a week at most or at special festivals or celebrations. One of the main reason meat was traditionally was not eaten was a lack of refrigeration. Eggs have traditionally been regarded as a special food and egg dishes were often reserved for special occasions. A wide variety of rices are available. Western Nepal is famous for its red rice. Basmati is more expensive and has traditionally been enjoyed by the elite. The poor eat brown rice or rice provided by aid agencies, often from Thailand. Milk and milk products are regarded as health tonics Lentils provide most of the protein in Nepalese Hindu vegetarian diets.

Nepalese food is generally not as spicy as India food. Nepalese are fond of curry, onions and garlic. The spices are similar to those in India but the herbs are different. Those used in Nepalese cooking that grow at higher altitudes have a drier characteristic. One Nepalese cook said, "Indian curries are quite heavy, made with creams and butter. In Nepal, pine nut oil, vegetable oils, and cashew nuts are used. Instead of cream, we use light yoghurt." In the trekking and backpacker areas, a wide variety of backpacker-style food geared for Westerners is available with things like Tibetan pizzas, Italian food, omelettes, banana pancakes, good bread, pastries, french fries, and yak burgers.

Dietary Restrictions in Nepal

Vegetarian meals are common and beef and pork are rarely served because Hindus don't eat beef and out of respect to Muslims, pork is not widely eaten either. What local people eat is often determined by their religion, caste, ethnic group and home region. Different groups have different prohibitions against certain spices, meats and vegetables. Particular castes have kosherlike rules and different methods of food preparation. High caste Nepalese, for example, insist their food be prepared by high caste cooks.

David H. Holmberg wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Although dietary restrictions are easing among cosmopolitan sectors of society, many conservative Hindus in Nepal will take cooked rice only from those of the same, or of a higher, caste. Foods that are parched or cooked in oil or butter are shared more widely and are the foods of festive occasions. High castes will not accept water from untouchables. Many high-caste Brahman families are vegetarian. Hindus cannot eat beef under any circumstances, and high castes will not eat domestic pork, though some will eat wild boar. [Source: David H. Holmberg, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, Thomson Gale, 2006]

“Newar Buddhists are divided into castes and follow dietary rules similar to those of Hindus. Clean castes will not accept water from untouchable castes. Higher castes will take water only from other higher castes, and they will not accept cooked rice from castes lower than their own. The sharing of such items as liquor and tobacco across caste boundaries is also highly restricted. Other Buddhists in Nepal are less concerned with purity.”

Eating Habits in Nepal

Many Nepalese eat two main meals: a midmorning breakfast and dinner and have a tea and tiffin break around lunchtime. Most meals feature rice.“Achhar” (pickels) is a common side dishes. People often take a tea break of 15 minutes or so between 11: 00am and 1: 00pm. Lunch is served around 2: 00pm. It usually more of snack and consists of chapatis, rice, or dahl bat, or noodles and tea.

Most Nepalese wake up early and have breakfast in two parts, with sweet milk tea and fried dough at 6: 30am and larger meal around 9: 00pm with rice, lentils curried vegetables and dahl baht (lentil soup). Major hotels off Western offer Western-style breakfasts. At hotels in the hill stations and other places you can an English breakfast with porridge, corn flakes, eggs, pancakes and tea or coffee.

Nepalese tend to eat dinner between 6: 30pm and 8: 00pm. The dishes include dahl baht, meat or egg curries, tarkari (curried vegetables), and maybe some vegetable dishes. Condiments served with main dishes include achaar (pungent pickles made with tomatoes, coriander, garlic, lemon and onions, chutneys, rice, and chopped coriander leaves). Water is sometimes served during the meal and tea is usually served afterwards.

Eating Customs in Nepal

Most families eat from individual plates while seated on the floor. Though some urbanites use Western utensils (cutlery, forks and knives) , it is more common to eat with the hands, particularly the right hand.

A common greeting in Nepal is “Have you eaten yet?” Men and women often eat separately. Men and children often eat first while they are served by the woman of the house, who eats when everyone else is finished. Nepalis do not eat beef. The main reason for this is that Hindus worship cows. The cow is also the national animal of Nepal.

Nepalese generally sit on the floor, often cross-legged on woven “gundri” mats, and are expected to wash their hands before they eat and vigorously wash out their mouth when they finish. Plates and utensil are often rinsed in water, without dish soap, by Hindus to ritually purify them.

When eating with Nepalese don't serve yourself. Wait for food to be served to you. Don't touch the food of others or food eaten by the group. This may contaminate the food according to caste beliefs. Using the left hand to give or take also goes against local customs.

Some people eat their hands, South Asian style. Eat with your right hand. The hand used for eating must not touch anything else unless it has been thoroughly washed, for saliva is considered defiling. Drinking using the left hand is okay. When consuming dahl baht by hand, pour the dahl (lentils) over the rice, add some vegetable curry or pickles and then pick them up with your hand, using your thumb to push the food on your fingers, and place it your mouth. It can be messy. If you are not sure what to do watch the Nepalese.

The division of pure and impure is very pronounced when eating. “Jutho”, referring to food or material touched by another’s mouth directly or indirectly, is considered impure by Nepalis. and, therefore, is not accepted unless among close friends or family. Don’t place red peppers on someone’s plate. The is sign that they are going to engage in argument soon. Put them on the side of the plate.

Don't eat food purchased at food stalls until after you have purchased it. Nepalese don’t split the bill. Usually the person who does the inviting pays. According to Nepalese custom one friend pays for tea one day and the next the other friend plays. Higher castes are often reluctant to eat food prepared by strangers because they worry about the strangers being from lower castes. One way they avoid this is not eating out.

Tibetan Eating Customs

At home Tibetans usually sit cross-legged on the floor while eating with their hands. Flies often buzz around the food. Some Tibetan eat by passing around food and a hunting knife from hand to hand. In some Himalayan cultures, men and women eat the same food but it is prepared differently for each sex. What is good for a man is judged unfit for woman and visa versa.

Tibetan people are expected to eat and drink quietly and not eat too much in one bite. When eating tsampa—a staple food of Tibetan people made from parched barley— place some flour with salted butter tea in a bowl, rotate the bowl with the left hand and mix the food with your fingers of your right hand. Then roll it into small lumps and squeeze it into your mouth with your fingers.

Tibetans sometimes use silver or high-quality porcelain dinner wares to serve dishes to guests, while the most common ones are wooden. Tibetan cuisine is traditionally served with bamboo chopsticks, in contrast to other Himalayan cuisines, which are eaten by hand. Small soup bowls are also used. Rich Tibetans like to use bowls of gold and silver.

If you are invited into a home, remember that it is considered rude to ask for tea or food directly. You must wait to be offered food. Additionally, it is considered rude to request seconds. If there is additional food, you are offered food. If you are in a Sherpa home, you must decline the first offer of food, regardless of how hungry you are. To do otherwise is to insult your hosts. Informal social rules denote that is appropriate to refuse three times and accept on the fourth time. Use only the fingers of your RIGHT hand when touching food. If you are served the tail of a white sheep, it means that they are honoring you as the guest of honor. [Source: Catherine Go, tibetravel.org]

In Tibet, eating the meat of donkeys, horses and dogs is an absolute taboo. Some regions also do not eat fish. Otherwise, many Tibetans eat a lot of meat, particularly yak meat. This a bit surprising in that Buddhism discourages the killing of animals and Buddhists are encouraged to be vegetarians. One reason Tibetans eat a lot of meat is that there is not much land that is good for agriculture on the Tibetan plateau. Grazing land for animals such as yaks and sheep is more plentiful.

Nepali Dishes

Nepali dishes are very basic. The national dish, dahl bat, is a curried stew with rice, lentils and sometimes potatoes. Other dishes include maasu (meat marinated in spices and yogurt and then fried in ghee), sokuti (dried, spiced meat cooked in oil), tama surwa (bamboo shoot soup), sekuwa (kebabs made with marinated meat), dahi chiura (yogurt and mashed rice), spicy stews, curries and various rice dishes.

A regular Nepali meal consists of dal (lentil soup), bhat (boiled rice) and tarkari (curried vegetables), often accompanied by achar (pickles). Curried meat is very popular, but is saved for special occasions, as it is relatively more expensive. Momos (steamed or fried Tibetan-style dumplings) are popular snack among Nepalis. Rotis (flat bread) and dhedo (boiled flour) also accompany meals in some homes.

Dhedo (a kind of dough or paste made by mixing water with millet, corn, what or potato flour) is a staple of the Middle Hills. Roti is also a common food. Tomatoes and spinach are used in many Nepali dishes. Sag puri (spinach puree) is a common. Ghee (clarified butter) is an ingredient for many dishes and is served on lentils, curries and breads. Ghee is very high in saturated fat. It is also highly flammable, and is used to light funeral pyres.

Food served in the guesthouses includes fried potatoes, dahl bat, chapatis (flat bread), spiced potatoes, stews, pancakes, momos, kothe (fried Tibetan dumplings), thukpa (Tibetan vegetable noodle soup), noodles with rice, porridge, rice, barley, fried green bread, eggs, buckwheat, apples and chilies, and muesli. Fresh or dried yak meat is considered a delicacy. Kinema is popular dish made from fermented soy beans.

Indian dishes commonly found in Nepal include masala chicken (cooked in a barbecue-style sauce), grilled kofta kebabs, korma (braised mutton cooked with cashew nuts in a spicy curry sauce), goshtaba (mutton balls cooked in yoghurt and cardamom), mullagatanni (a soup made with onion and spices to which milk or cream is added), pulao (rice with meat spiced with saffron), biryani (a multilayered concoction of lamb, nuts and saffron flavored rice) and Mughalai roasts,

The desserts and pastries tend to be very sweet like Turkish or Greek balaclavas. Nepalese like puddings and milk and lentil-based sweets. Among the popular deserts found in some places are sikani (a yogurt desert with spices), khir (rice pudding sometimes served with milk and nuts), and firni (similar to khir, except thicker and custard-like). Items you can buy on the streets include bread, kebabs, dahl, dalmat (deep fried lentils, often with dried peas and peanut and salted and spiced), jalebas (pretzel-shaped treated boiled in oil), samosas (deep-fried turnovers filled with spiced potatoes and peas, or meat or vegetables), bhajia (vegetables dipped in chickpea flour and then fried), chick-pea-flour papadum chips.

Newa Food

Newa cooking is more elaborate and varied than typical Nepalese cuisine. One distinctive dish associated with the Kathmandu Valley is Samay Baji a set of dishes representing the five elements (space, earth, water, fire and metal) and regarded as a pure food of the gods. It is made with beaten rice, roasted meat, vegetables, cowpea, soybean and ginger and served with Aila or Thwon, the common liquors that Newars make at home.

There is an old Newari song about this that goes: “laa chaku wayka Samay Baji, walla walla pulu Newari food kishi”, which literally means, “serve us Samay Baji with a piece of meat as here comes the white elephant”. This song is sung in streets during the Newari festival of Indra Jatra in old Kathmandu as men labor hard to pull the chariot of the god, thinking about the feasting that awaits them when they are finished. The Newars enjoy feasts and say a stomach filled with Samay Baji and a mind filled with Aila allow one to drift away into a peaceful slumber on s full moon night, dreaming of gods and heaven, with lingering memories of singing, feasting and dancing.

Common Newari meat dishes including palula (buffalo meat and ginger curry); choila (ground buffalo meat); momocha (dumplings filled with minced buffalo or chicken meat); kunya (smoked fish); senlamu (raw ground buffalo liver seasoned with spices); chhoyla (boiled or smoked, sliced and marinated buffalo meat); haku chhoyla (roasted, diced and marinated buffalo meat); and soups. [Source: Wikipedia] . Common vegetable dishes include tarkari (vegetable curry); wauncha (green vegetables); ken (lentil soup); simi (beans); mi (fenugreek ); aai ka (remaining rice after preparing rice beer); choohon (tama in nepali) (bamboo shoot); ghalmal (mixed curry of diced lentil cake, green vegetables and leftover meat seasoned with nepal pepper); vegetable dishes; chakuhi (boiled sweet potato); haku musya (roasted black soybean mixed with oil and salt); labha (chopped garlic greens mixed with spices); palu (diced raw ginger); and losa (relish).

Vegetable dishes consumed at feasts and special occasions include chhon kwa (curry of bamboo shoots and potato); kwati (soup made of nine types of sprouted beans); buba kwa (beans curry); mee kwa (curry of fenugreek seeds); paun kwa (sour soup of himalayan hog plum); pancha kwa (mixed vegetable curry of bamboo shoots, potato, dried mushroom, dried radish and blackeyed pea). kaywu (soaked field pea and garden pea); lain (sliced radish); tusi (sliced cucumber).

For lunch or a snack people have baji (beaten rice); vegetables, roasted meat and sides dishes and finger food such as chhusya (parched wheat); gophuki (puffed rice); chatanmari (rice flour crepe); gwaramari (deep fried dough); jakimari (rice flour pancake); haja (steamed rice); kani (popcorn); musya (roasted soybean); sukula (dried meat); kheyn wo (fried egg); wo (fried lentil cake); dhau (yogurt) in an earthen bowl; and bara (fried lentil cake with hole like donut).

Among the meat dishes enjoyed at feasts and special occasions are dayekala (buffalo meat curry); heynla (duck curry); dugula (goat meat curry); nya (fish curry); khayala (chicken curry); takha (jellied buffalo meat curry); me (buffalo tongue boiled, sliced and fried); changrala (mountain goat meat); khasila (gelding goat meat); bandella (wild wardrobe meat); kachila (marinated raw minced buffalo meat); sanya (small fish); chohi (steamed buffalo blood); janla (marinated diced with skin raw meat); nhyapu (brains boiled, sliced and fried); nyapuka (fried fish); pukala (fried meat, intestine, liver or heart); sapu mhicha (leaf tripe bag stuffed with bone marrow); chhyalla (soup made of shredded pickled radish and diced variety meats); bulla or ka kwa (soup made of the dregs of rice beer, diced spleen and other meats, bone marrow and bone); swan puka (goat lungs filled with batter and boiled, sliced and fried) and sanya-khuna (spicy jellied fish soup).

Desserts include dhau (yogurt); juju dhau (special yogurt/curd originated from bhaktapur); guulmari(made out of flour and sugar, cooked in hot oil); marichari (may include anything sweet from soft milk based pastries to fried bread dipped in caramel); yomari (made out of chaku and floor and is steamed like momo); and laakhamari (made out of flour and sugar, cooked in hot oil).

Tibetan and Sherpa Food

Traditionally, Tibetans have eaten meat and dairy products such as butter, milk, yoghurt and cheese from yaks, sheep, cattle and goats, with barley being their primary grain source. Sheep's belly stuffed with yak yogurt and sheep intestine filled with fat, blood and flour are considered delicacies.

Tibetan food is characterized by: 1) a variety of dishes made with yak meat or mutton; 2) milk products such as butter, yoghurt and hard cheese; and 3) dumpling and other foods made with highland barley and potato. Meats are generally stewed, braised, simmered, steamed, fried, roasted or made into soups, stews or dumplings. Barley and potato dishes are generally steamed, boiled or fried. [Source: Chloe Xin, Tibetravel.org tibettravel.org ]

Few crops grow in the high altitudes and harsh climate that characterizes Tibet, although a few areas in Tibet are low enough to grow such crops as rice, oranges, plums, and lemon. The most important crop is barley. Vegetables are scarce in the high altitude. Things like cabbages, turnips, radishes and onions grow best.

Potatoes are the staple of the Sherpa diet. They are boiled, curried, fermented into chang and even chewed like gum. “Shakpa” (pungent potato stew) is a Sherpas favorite. Sherpas have traditionally not eaten meat. They drink Tibetan style tea with salt and yak butter and make homemade beer called chang from maize and other grains. Sherpa chang is sometimes brewed with potatoes.

Rice, momos (Tibetan dumplings), tsampa (Tibetan barely porridge), yak milk cheese and fresh goat are common foods. Tibetan tea is brewed with an equal measure of salt and yak butter, giving it a consistency like soup. As a special treat for honored guests a raw egg is added. Westerners sometimes have trouble with the food. It often used to have dust and pebbles in it. Mustangese find it strange that Westerners eat fish. [Source: Michel Peissel, National Geographic, October 1965]

Typical Tibetan Food

The staple food for Tibetan are tsampa, yak and sheep meat, various dairy products and butter, grey flour (usually a buckwheat flour called nas), vegetables, butter tea, and wine made from nas. The local food and cuisine in Tibet reflect its climate and customs. Tsampa is often made with barley. Tibet is one of the few places in the world where people still eat barley. Many Tibetans in many places subsist almost entirely on barley dumplings. They are so poor they can't even afford the most basic fruits and vegetables.

A typical Tibetan meal consists of yak milk, goat cheese, yoghurt, and tsampa (porridge) made from roasted or parched highland barley flour, and pencha (tea) made with salt and yak butter, which is often rancid. In some places roasted peas, ground corn, or corn paste is mixed with tea, milk or yogurt. A typical breakfast consists of sweet, thick rice soup or tsampa.

Dumplings (momos) are regarded as a treat. There are special dumplings for holidays. Tibetan restaurants serve rice, momos, yak milk cheese, thukpa (noddles with meat), grilled yak meat. and Tibetan pizzas made with yak meat or yak burgers. A Tibetan feast includes dumplings, big mutton ribs, dried yak meat, bowls of steaming rice and curry, salted nuts and seeds, cookies, candies, watermelons, beer, juice and water.

Describing the preparation of a meal made in Dolpo, Eric Valli wrote in Smithsonian, "She then puts the four ingredients of pack into individual wooden cups — some butter, powdered cheese, tsampa, and, for liquid, some of the tea...We hand-mix the ingredients into a thick paste. In Dolpo, this raw paste passes for daily bread; for feasts it is made more palatable with precious sugar."

Tsampa

Tsampa is the staple of the Tibetan diet. It can be eaten dry, added to tea, or mixed with tea and butter to form patties or balls. Tsampa mixed with yak butter in a wooden bowl and shaped into balls is arguably the most common food in Tibet. Tsampa balls can also be made by mixing tsampa with cheese, sugar, curd and butter. Honored guests are sometimes served a bowl of tsampa with a raw egg or a piece of butter that is sculpted into a three-legged symbol, representing the earth, moon and sun.

Tsampa is a dough made with roasted flour and yak butter. The main staple grain for the Tibetans is nas, or highland barely, a wheat-like crop grown in high mountains and plateaus. To make this into flour, whole grain kernels are dried and roasted, then ground. This flour is then pan- fried to yield a product they call tsampa. This is also sometimes referred to as fried nas flour. Tsampa means "parched flour". Chinese call it “zanba, [Source: by Cathy Ang, Chinese Food in China, Hong Kong, and/or Taiwan, Fall Volume: 1999 <+>]

Tsampa is made by drying highland barley in the sun, parching the barley, and grinding the barley into flour in a water mill. It is ground into coarse or fine flour according to different tastes, and it also can be ground into refined tsampa by removing the bran.Tsampa is divided into several kinds, including highland barley tsampa, pea tsampa, and mixed tsampa. Fine barley tsampa is the top-grade tsampa, which is usually eaten in festive occasions or in entertaining guests. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, kepu.net.cn ~]

There are several ways to prepare and eat Tsampa. It can be made into a congee which can be mixed with fried soybeans, cheese, butter, and salt. It can also be mixed with butter-tea, butter, or ground pieces of brick tea. When mixed with butter, it is most often formed into a flat shape, sort of a thick pie ready for serving. Tsampa served with buttered tea is salty, while the Tsampa made into porridge is often sweet. Tibetan people eat Tsampa at every meal, and when traveling, it is brought along as a ready-made meal. To create Tsampa, Tibetans put some ghee (yak butter) in a bowl, pour some boiled water or tea into the bowl, add some roasted barley flour into the water or tea, mix and then knead the mixture into dough balls and eat them. [Source: <+>, Chloe Xin, Tibetravel.org]

Tsampa is considered by many Westerners to be bland, pastey and un-appetizing while Tibetans say it smells and tastes good. Tsampa has a certain novelty value the first time you try it, but only a Tibetan can eat it every day and still look forward to the next meal. Generally, roasted highland barley, with the husk, is ground into very fine flour usually using a hand mill.

Eating and Preparing Tsampa

Cathy Ang wrote: “Tsampa balls are often made mixing nas flour with melted butter (crispy oil), cheese powder, and sugar. They can but do not need to include hot butter-tea. These balls are usually slightly flattened to about an inch in thickness." [Source: by Cathy Ang, Chinese Food in China, Hong Kong, and/or Taiwan, Fall Volume: 1999]

To eat the tsampa, people should first pour a little buttered tea into a bowl. Add some butter, fine milk sediments, and white sugar into it, and then put the tsampa flour into the bowl. Then hold the bowl with the left hand, and thoroughly mix the ingredients with the right hand. Finally, mold the dough into small balls for eating. Other ingredients may also be added to enhance the flavor. Use only the fingers of your right hand when touching food. Eat the lump of tsampa-tea with your fingers. Tsampa is easy to carry and there are many ways to eat it. Thus it is widely considered the best food for a traveler. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, kepu.net.cn ~]

Tibetans eat tsampa every day. As tsampa is nutritious and is easy to carry about, it is the most convenient food for the Tibetans living on the plateau. When Tibetans go on a long journey, if they bring a bowl or tsampa bag, tsampa, butter, and dry milk sediments, no matter where they are, they can use buttered tea, or even only some water, to make a meal of fragrant and nice tsampa without lighting a fire to cook. ~

Thakali cuisine

Thakali cuisine — the food of the Thakali people living in Thak-Khola Valley, an ancient and relatively easy trade route through the high Himalaya — is a mix of Himalayan and lowland cuisines. It is served in inns (bhattis) and guest houses used by trekkers run by Thakalis alongside trade routes in Pokhara and Annapurna area. Yak milk is an essential ingredient but few Thakali own their own yaks, so butter made from the yak milk is usually purchased at markets along with other staples like rice, tea, lentils, sugar and spices. From the butter a hard cheese called chhurpi is made with the buttermilk. [Source: Wikipedia]

Thakali cuisine is less vegetarian than cuisine of the Kathmandu Valley. Yak and yak-cow hybrids are consumed by the lower castes. All castes eat sheep meat, either raised locally or imported from Tibet. Meat is sliced into thin slices and dried on thin poles near the cooking fire. Blood sausage is also prepared and dried. Dried meat is added to vegetable curries or sauteed in ghee and dipped into timur-ko-choup which is a mixture of red chili powder, Sichuan pepper, salt and local herbs. This spice mixture also seasons new potatoes, or eggs which may be boiled, fried or made into omelets.

Thakali cuisine uses locally grown buckwheat, barley, millet and dal, as well as rice, maize and dal imported from lower regions to the south. Grain is often ground and boiled into a thick porridge that is eaten with dal. Local dal is made from dried, ground buckwheat leaves. Grain is roasted or popped in hot sand (which is then sieved off) for snacks. Thakalis follow the Tibetan customs making tsampa and tea with butter and salt. Ghee is used in making tea as well as a cooking. Because many Thakali are engaged in trade, they use the vegetables, fruits and eggs they bring in from lower regions to make their local dishes. Among the vegetables they eat are daikon radish and beetroot, which is dried and often prepared with mutton. A soup made with a spinach known as gyang-to is common as are apples, introduced by foreign horticulturists.

Insects and Worms Eaten in Nepal But Not Dogs Or Cats

Bee brood (larvae and pupae) is widely consumed by Nepalese. A bee brood preparation is called bakuti in Nepali. Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers) are fried are sold on the streets of Kathmandu and elsewhere after invasions of them from India. In the hill country toward the border with Tibet, giant earthworms are collected during the monsoon season, held in water overnight to void ingested soil, then dried and stored as provisions which last for several months (F. Neupane, pers. comm. 1988). [Source: Burgett (1990); S. Joshi and Mrs. R.B. Pradhan, Ministry of Agriculture, pers. comm (1988); Dr. F. Neupane and others at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Kathmandu, pers. comm(1988). Insects as Food, by Gene DeFoliart, food-insects.com, no longer online]

“Dr. Durga Dutt Joshi, director of the National Zoonoses & Food Hygiene Research Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, told ANIMAL PEOPLE that "Dogs and cats are never eaten in Nepal, and it is illegal to slaughter dogs and cats." [Source: animalpeoplenews.org]

In their photograph book, "Honey Hunters of Nepal," Eric Valli and Diane Summers (1988) describe the harvesting of honey and wax from the huge nests of the wild bee, Apis laboriosa. The hunters squeeze the white fluid from the larvae into a small pot of heated honey. Rich in protein, the mixture is considered to be a tonic. The larval liquid is also cooked with chilis and salt. The authors mention that: “The honey, which is valued as a universal remedy and tonic, is sold to villagers or exchanged for grain, yogurt, milk, a chicken, or even a day's work. The price of a pound is ten rupees, the equivalent of fifty cents, a luxury in a country where some 60 percent of the rural population lives on less than two rupees a day. The wax is sold in Kathmandu to the artisans who use it in the lost-wax process of casting statues.” See article PEOPLE OF THE Terai

The pupae Saturniidae (giant silkworm moths) and Samia ricini (Boisduval), which used in making textiles, are not used eaten as food by humans in Nepal as they are in India, but there is interest in using them as feed for poultry and pond fish (F.P. Neupane, Inst. of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, pers. comm. 1988). The species offers an almost ideal example of sustainable agriculture: the castor plant grows on poor soils, helping to prevent erosion; castor bean oil is sold for medicinal and industrial uses; excess leaves are fed to the caterpillars which produce silk and a pupa that is a high-protein food or animal feedstuff, and the caterpillar frass and other rearing residue can be used for pond fish culture.

Neupane et al (1990) investigated the production biology of S. ricini (as S. cynthia ricini Hutt.) in Nepal and found that six generations per year are produced when the caterpillars are grown on castor leaves. They do not recommend rearing during the cold months, November-April, however, because the life cycle requires 114-126 days for completion compared to only 38-61 days from March to November. Cassava can also be used as a host plant, but mean weights of the larvae, pupae and cocoons are slightly lower. Among the benefits of ericulture, the authors report that quality leaves of both castor and cassava are available throughout the year; farmers can use their extra time for silkworm rearing and very little monetary investment is required; and even low-skilled children and older folks in a family can participate in the rearing, thus enhancing employment and the economic status of poor and subsistence farmers. If cassava is the host plant, rather than castor, the roots are used as food and animal feed and the old plants as fuelwood.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Nepal Tourism Board (ntb.gov.np), Nepal Government National Portal (nepal.gov.np), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated February 2022


This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available in an effort to advance understanding of country or topic discussed in the article. This constitutes 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. If you are the copyright owner and would like this content removed from factsanddetails.com, please contact me.