Cookbook:Cuisine of Nepal

Cookbook | Recipes | Cuisines | South Asian cuisines

Nepali cuisine is variable, influenced by Tibetan cuisine in the north of the country and northern Indian cuisine in the south. In central Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, the cuisine is a unique mixture of the two. The cuisines in Kathmandu valley includes the buff meat as main ingredient in non-veg cooking which is used to prepare various traditional "newari" dishes like "chhoyala", "kachila", "kawaf", "janla", "takha", "nya-khunha", "takula","chikula", "la wo lapi", "khago", "syapumhicha", "tisya", "nhepu", "chohi", "soo" etc. The veg items include "woo","chatamari", (can be varied as minced meat stuffed, simple, with egg, and with vegetable), "Yomari" , "Paun kwa", "pancha kwa" , "mee kwa","hyela", and others with various vegetables and beans. The widely used "achar" includes the mixed salad like pickle made up of mixing potatoes,sesame seeds, cucumber and other seasonal raw vegetables. The other famous "achar" are made of tomatoes and dried fish for non-veg. For vegetarians, dried fish can be replaced by fried tofu or cottage cheese. "Lapsi" is another ingredient that is used for "achar", which can be mixed with seasonal vegetables and fruits or it can alone make it. For soft drink, a rice-beer known as "tho" is used. For hard drink, it is "aela".

Nepali cuisine uses spices such as cumin, fenugreek, and coriander; and rice and lentils are eaten as staples. This southern-influenced brand of Nepali cuisine is different from Indian cuisine mainly in the much more moderate usage of oil and spices.

Influences from the north include bamboo-shoots, preserved vegetables (various pickled/fermented vegetables), and dried vegetables (gundruk and sinki), which are regularly and commonly eaten. Also popular are steamed dumplings (momos), usually eaten with a sauce made, variably, of tomatoes, cilantro, and sesame seeds.