Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 3 | Page 49
Must-Try Food When
in Nepal
by Amar Bahadur Shrestha
‘Samyabaji’ (a mixture of traditional foods) being offered to Living Goddess Kumari during Indra Jatra festival. Photo: RMT.
Attending a traditional Newari feast (lapate bhoye) in Kathmandu
is one of the best ways to try Newari food. In fact, the Newar
cuisine is famed in the country for its range of different dishes.
At a lapate bhoye, all the guests sit on long, narrow straw mats
(sukuls) facing each other. A lapate (leaf plate) is placed before
each guest, accompanied by a pala (small clay bowl). The
eldest are served first, and the feast begins with two handfuls
of baji (beaten rice) followed by curries like gainda gudi (a mix
of different lentils), hariyo saag (green spinach), and alu tama
(curry of potatoes and bamboo shoots). Alu tama has a unique
aroma and you’ll surely love its taste. Spicy achaar (pickles)
follow: alu kerau is a spicy mixture of radish, potatoes, and green
and small brown peas, and tamatar ko achaar which is a ripe
tomato pickle. Now that the groundwork has been prepared,
the buffalo meat curry is served and the guests will start eating.
The feast is on.
Here are some Newari must try foods:
Alu tama: curry made of potatoes and bamboo shoots
Hakuchoila: spiced ground meat, broiled
Senla mu: liver, steamed and sautéed
Swanpuka: lungs filled and fried
Bhuttan: fried intestine and other abdominal parts
Mainh: tongue pieces, fried
Juju dhau: delicious curd made in Bhaktapur
More dishes follow in succession. These include a selection
of a dozen or so tasty morsels of meat from different parts of
the animal. Hakuchoila (broiled spiced ground meat), senla
mu (liver that’s steamed and then sautéed), swanpuka (lungs
stuffed and fried), bhuttan (fried intestine and other abdominal
parts), and mainh (fried pieces of tongue) are some of the
tongue tingling dishes that you might be served. While these
delectable tidbits are being served, someone else will be busy
pouring aila (homemade liquor) into your pala.
Newari Food Set. Photo: Sudeep Singh.
The next item on the menu is something called chhuse musse
that is a mix of raw carrot, radish, cucumber, onion, and tomato
slices, and soaked peas. Towards the end of the feast, a handful
of beaten rice is again served, followed by yogurt and some
sweetmeats. The yogurt served at such feasts will probably be
from Bhaktapur, known famously as juju dhau (king curd). It is
really delicious yogurt. That’s dessert and signifies the end of
the lapate bhoye.
Home made alcohol known as ‘aila’. Photo: Sudeep Singh.
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