The buffalo is perhaps the most important animal for Kathmandu’s Newars as far as the creation of tasty morsels are concerned, and no part of the big animal goes to waste because the Newars produce a delicacy from almost all of its parts. Here are a few examples of their gastronomic ingenuity: kachilaa (marinated minced meat, raw), takhaa(soup, jellied), hakuchoila (broiled and spiced meat, grounded), bhuttan (intestine and other stomach parts, deep fried), cho-hi (blood with marrow and spices, steamed), mainh(pieces of tongue, fried), senla mu (liver, steamed and sautéed), swanpuka (lungs, filled and fried), etc. etc. And how can momochas (small dumplings filled with minced buff meat) not be mentioned? The Newars also take pride in distilling some fiery stuff, the aila, which like mentioned before, is a most suitable accompaniment to any meal, especially the typically heavy ones with lots of meat dishes. They also make a rice beer called thwonwhich has a sweet taste and is ideal for sipping through a day of leisure.
However, meat and drinks are not all that the valley inhabitants excel in making; there are also a number of excellent non-meat dishes. Here are some examples of the same: bara(doughnut-like snacks, lentil based), wo (another lentil based snack), chatamari (rice pancakes), sel- roti (a kind of round shaped bread), kwanti (soup of nine different beans) and yo mari (steamed rice-flour dough filled with brown cane sugar and sesame seeds). It should be noted that most of these dishes are cooked especially during festive and religious occasions, and sel-roti is in the limelight during Dashain and Tihar. In fact, sel-roti is the highlight of these festivals in the valley, and housewives go one up on each other trying to make the perfect sel-rotis. It’s almost a matter of pride for any household to come up with nice, round, and puffed up sel-rotis. So, if you are in Kathmandu during Dashain and Tihar, try and find some way to get yourself invited to a Newari home. You’ll have a gastronomic experience you’ll never forget.
