Go Nepal e-Magazine

of noodle soups, potatoes and toasted flour. “Chow-chow”
packet noodles, cooked up as a spicy soup snack, are ubiquitous.
Vegetarians will feel at home in Nepal, since meat
is considered a luxury. Tourist menus invariably include
veggie items.
vegetables and ginger, steamed, and served with hot
tomato salsa and a bowl of broth. Fried momo are called
kothe. Shyaphagle, made from the same ingredients, are
Tibetan-style pasties. Tibetan cuisine is also full of hearty
soups called thukpa or thenthuk, consisting of noodles,
meat and vegetables in broth. For a group feast, try the
huge gyakok (chicken, pork, prawns, fish, tofu, eggs and
vegetables), which gets its name from the brass container
Local Nepali diners (bhojanalayas or, confusingly enough,
“hotels”) are traditionally humble affairs, offering a limited
choice of dishes or just daal bhaat. Menus don’t exist,
but the food will normally be on display or cooking in
full view, so all you have to do is point. On the highways
they’re bustlingly public and spill outdoors in an effort to
win business.
Teahouses (chiyapasal) really only sell tea and basic
snacks, while the simple taverns (bhatti) of the Kathmandu
Valley and the western hills put the emphasis on
alcoholic drinks and meaty snacks, but may serve Nepali
meals too. Trailside, both chiyapasal and bhatti are typically
modest operations run out of family kitchens. Sweet
shops (mithaipasal or misthan bhandar) are intended to
fill the gap between the traditional mid-morning and early
evening meals; besides sweets and tea, they also do South
Indian and Nepali savoury snacks. Street vendors sell
fruit, nuts, roasted corn, and various fried specialities. As
often as not, food will come to you when you’re travelling
– at every bus stop, vendors will clamber aboard or hawk
their wares through the window.
Momo, arguably the most famous and popular of Tibetan
dishes, are available throughout upland Nepal. Similar
to dim sum, the half-moon-shapes are filled with meat,
it’s served in. In trekking lodges you’ll encounter pitta-like
Tibetan or “Gurung” bread.
The average peasant seldom eats any of the above. Potatoes
are common in the high country, and Sherpa potatoes
– usually eaten boiled in their skins with a dab of salt
and chilli paste – are justly famous for their nutty sweetness.
Tsampa (toasted barley flour) is another staple, and
often, especially for trekkers, mixed with milk or tea to
make a porridge paste.
Road Food
Common food on the road includes pakora (vegetables
dipped in chickpea-flour batter, deep fried), and bean
curry served with puris or roti. Another possibility is dahi
chiura, a mixture of yoghurt and beaten rice. If you’re
in a hurry, you can grab a handful of samosas (curried
vegetables in fried pastry triangles), baara (fried lentil patties),
or other titbits on a leaf plate. In the hill towns and
around Kathmandu, huge aluminium steamers placed by
the restaurant door advertise momo. If nothing else, there
will always be packet noodles (“chow-chow”).
Source: (Nepal Tourism Board)