Nepali Cuisine

July 18 2006

I have learned one thing for sure since I have come to Kathmandu. It is almost impossible to avoid carbohydrates. So those of you who are serious about avoiding carbs in your diet – do not come to Nepal! No, I am kidding. Trust me. This country is amazing. Even if it does mean you must overdose on carbs on a daily basis! I have never eaten so much rice, bread and potatoes in all my life!! We have our own cook, DC. He lives here with us and prepares breakfast and dinner for us each day. We consider ourselves quite lucky to have him here with us. He has been doing a great job introducing us to traditional Nepali food. Everything is spicy – sometimes even breakfast! However, most days he makes us toast or porridge and fruit for breakfast. That is fairly normal in comparison to home. They even have peanut butter for the toast! I was impressed. It was quite hard to come by in England. DC makes us ginger tea every morning. It is made with milk, pepper, lemon, ginger, and sugar. First, I was not so fond of it. It is very sweet and I never add sugar to my tea normally. Now, I can't get enough of it! I figure, DC and Nepal has ruined Tetley tea for me forever!! It will never be the same again! For dinner we usually eat daal bhat. You ask what is daal bhat? Well, it is rice, lentils and curried vegetables. Over 90% of Nepali people eat daal bhat twice a day! I really love it. But I can not imagine eating twice a day everyday though. Nepali people do not use utensils – they eat with their right hand. It is messy because the lentils are similar to soup and is poured all over the rice with the vegetables and mixed together. DC has tried to get me to try it once. Clearly, he was not persistent enough because to date I have not eaten daal bhat with my hands! And I am quite easily talked into things. I am sure before I return to Canada I will have experienced this crazy method of filling my belly!!