YOMARI: Sweet rice flour dumplings

Delicacy of Newars: Yomari

Yomari is the delicious steamed bread with mouth watering filling made from a new harvest rice flour. It consists of an external covering of rice flour and inner content of sweet substances such as chakku, khuwa etc. This delicacy plays an important role in newar society.Yomari is the key part of the Newari festival of Yomari punhi.

Yomari punhi is the festival which is celebrated on the second day of full moon day when prayers are offered during which the yomari's are stored and not eaten on that day. So, on fourth and final day, newari people consume it as a gift from goddess and this practise marks the end of festival, Yomari punhi.

Yomari is easy and quick to make. To make this sweet dumplings, we have four basic steps. Firstly, the rice flour is kneaded into a smooth dough and left covered with damp towel. Secondly, the filling is prepared. thirdly, the rice dough is shaped into small pockets then the filling is added and sealed then steamed lastly.It is delicious if it is eaten warm than cold. The filling inside it gives awesome taste. It is the perfect combination of sweet filling with a great flavours. The filling varies according to the family preferences. It may include khuwaa, chakkhu, spicy ground and bean paste, roasted and ground sesame and many more.

Yomari plays an important role in many auspicious ceremony in Nw+ewar community such as rice feeding ceremony of child, Dhau-Baji i.e celebration of expectant mother, as a sagun food, Indrajatra, Samaya-baji and many more.

JUJU DHAU: The King of Yogurts

Sweet, creamy, thick, smooth - mouthwatering yogurt with an extra ordinary taste and texture

Juju Dhau is a sweetened custard- like yogurt that comes from Bhaktapur, Nepal. A famous place for many things , from all the inspiring durbar squares, which is also the world heritage site and historic pagoda, Nyatapola and not to forget people's way of life which is still traditional. This city of god and land of temple is famous for special curd, Juju dhau which literally means "KING OF YOGURT" in Newari language. It is the important component of all feast and celebrations.

This is so sweet, creamy and the texture is just amazing. It is thick and soft that we cannot separate solid and liduid like we can do it in other dairy and packets yogurts. It's not only the ingredients that made juju dhau so special but the traditional method of preparation and amazing texture gives thiis desert, the consistency it has and makes it a very perfect desert to enjoy any time of day with anyone.

How to prepare Juju dhau?

While cow's milk is used to make regular yogurt, fresh buffalo milk is traditionally used for Juju Dhau, resulting in a richer taste and texture. To make Juju Dhau, the milk is boiled, sweetened, mixed with culture, and poured into decorative, natural red clay pot called maato ko kataaro. It is then placed in a warm area, on a bed of paddy husks (the papery covering of rice grains), covered with another kataaro on top, and wrapped in several thick cotton blankets to maintain a warm temperature while the yogurt sets. Because the clay pots are porous, the excess liquid from the yogurt slowly evaporates, leaving a delicious, thick, smooth and creamy yogurt. It is then transported and sold in the market in the same clay pots.

 A visit to Bhaktapur is not complete without sampling a bowl of Juju Dhau.

CHOILA: Grilled Spiced Meat

Newari non-vegetarian grilled spicy dish.

Spicy and hot meat dish, either roasted or boiled is what we call choila. This is much loved  meat dish in newari cuisine which is also a part of samey baji (Beaten rice with assortment of bean, meat, spicy potatoes, lentil patty, soyabean and achar). It's an authentic recipe from Newari cuisine and eaten as a snack or an entree.It is not exactly but a kind of buff chilli. This is a popular newari need dish, found in every corner of the kathmandu valley and around.

There are two types of choila dish, the hakku choila and mana choila. Hakku choila is the black grilled meat whereas mana choila is the boiled meat. Mana choila is usually made from offals like tripe and liver. It's an exquisite but acquired amazing taste. This grilled and spicy dish is generally eaten with flattened rice / beaten rice and the amazing homemade wine. It is the compulsory dish in Newari bhoj.

How Choila is Prepared?

Traditionally, chhoila is made from buffalo meat by  roasting in a open fire made from hay. As only the tender cut of meat is used, the hay fire quickly chars the meat on the outside but cooking it only medium rare. This awesome method infuses meat with a smoky and earthy flavour which is just out of this world.

I always insist my mom to make this dish when I have a craving for a spicy and hot food. Mom says it's so simple and easy yet very tasty dish. 

LAPHING: Tibetan street food

Laphing, super easy to eat, palatable in taste, range of different flavours, the most try food.

A cold jelly noodle dish - originally called liang fen is Sichuan cuisine which wouldn't traditionally be made at home. It is cool and spicy dish, especially refreshing in summer. It looks like a soft noodly dish served usually with a sour taste soup but there is also a dry version of it. This is not a noodle actually. Laphing itself is a very bland but the entire dish is full of flavors, really spicy and sour. We can get a hint of garlic, chilli,vinegar and salt, not to overpowering but the entire dish gives a spicy taste inside the mouth; it's tsunami of flavors.

Laphing is actually a Northern chinese cuisine known as liangfen, which literally translates to cold noodle. Liang means cold and fen is a jelly like eatable substances. This dish travelled to Nepal with Tibetan and Chinese people who later setteled in Boudha. There are plenty of eateries around the hidden valleys and streets of boudha that serve laphing. You will see many eateries and stalls serving white and yellow laphing. In weekends, all these eateries are packed, with largely young people, eating laphing.

Therefore, Spicy cold mung bean noodle is a street food that can be eaten with red pepper, chilli, ciantro and green onion sauce. Noodles  have a slippery texture and served with a soy sauce gravy. It is the most try food. Those who hasnt try this yet, should try it at least once!!

MOMOS: The Himalayan Dumplings

Its sour, its spicy and its momo, the most popular dish of Nepal. I only wish I had tried more new things but I blame that on the momos. They are bite size dumplings made with spoon full of stuffing wrapped in a dough. Momos are usually steamed; though sometimes fried or steam fried.The fillings of meat or vegetables become esculent as it produces an intensibly flavoured, sealed inside the wrappers.

Smooth and white outside , a delicious bite sent a cloud of steam out and revealed a delightful ball of light and spicy mince, nestled inside its smooth shell. The meat inside provides a kick of spice, and a rich looking bowl of sauce or momo dip on the plate adds a punch on mouth. The momo dip is the hero of the entire dish. Once its inside the mouth, it just oozes with all that meat juice and not to forget, the momo dip, its sour, spicy and goes perfectly with momos.

How to prepare momo??

The dough is rolled very thin .The filling is placed at the center and then momo is shaped and sealed into small packets leaving some space for it to fill with prof that collects during the steaming process.

Since this dish is  popular among the Newari community of kathmandu valley, one prevelent believe is that newari  traders brought momo techniques. However, the momo has since evolved to shoot the Nepali people.

Daal-Bhaat-Tarkari-Achar

It's been a year that I have started my wonderful journey in the kitchen. It started from something menial ,messy and what some people might even call unhygienic to something that  is clean ,tastes good and is healthy. Cooking for me started off as a means of avoiding hunger however that gradually changed .It now has a lot more meaning. For me, food is not only about fulfilling one's hunger  or  means of avoiding starvation but also about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is a way of using vital nutrients for the growth and development of our bodies.The only food that I can perfectly cook is daal, bhaat, achar, and tarkari.

I remember the first time I cooked, it was very oily and spicy. Being a beginner in cooking, I had no idea about the do's and don'ts of cookery. However the situation changed over the months, thanks to my mother.

The combination of daal bhaat tarkari and achaar is the common meal in many areas of Nepal. It is the only food that is cooked everyday in every Nepalese house. For making this, Rice is usually boiled and accompanied by a letil soup. Likewise, daal is prepared from variety of dried beans, lentils and peas. Daal accompanied rice and often eaten by mixing together. The third one is tarkari or vegetables which varies based on region and season. Similarly, Nepali meals are often accompanied by a side dish of spice pickles.