, from the plains to the mountains, is the combination of daal, bhaat, and tarkari (lentil soup, boiled rice, and vegetable curry). There are quite a few restaurants in the capital, as elsewhere, that have daal, bhaat, and tarkari, as one of the attraction in their menus. Some restaurants, in fact, have made it their specialty and a selling point for tourists desirous of tasting the same (in which case, there’s less of spices and chillies used to accommodate their palates). Along with daal, bhat, and tarkari, are also served saag (spinach), tamatar ko achar (tomato pickle), and khasi ko masu (mutton curry). The last actually costs as much as the rest of the meal put together, mutton being quite an expensive item.
Today, no tourist worth his salt goes back home without having at least one such meal, and some day, probably, some experts will no doubt tout the simple daal, bhaat, and tarkari as one of the most well balanced meals ever, and one that provides not only enough calories to see you through the day, but a whole lot of nutrients as well. One other thing to be mentioned here is that many of the restaurants catering to tourists especially make it a point to offer aila (local Newari liquor) along with the meal, which doubtless, must go a long way in sharpening the foods’ flavor. Now, this aila, it’s something else; in fact, it literally burns its way down your throat and through your digestive system, aiding digestion, and at the end, resulting in a pleasant euphoric feeling. Look out especially for restaurants with the name ‘Thakali’ attached to it. These are restaurants that only serve typical Nepali meals as mentioned above, but with a generous dollop of pure ghee (clarified butter) over the steamed rice as well., from the plains to the mountains, is the combination of daal, bhaat, and tarkari (lentil soup, boiled rice, and vegetable curry). There are quite a few restaurants in the capital, as elsewhere, that have daal, bhaat, and tarkari, as one of the attraction in their menus. Some restaurants, in fact, have made it their specialty and a selling point for tourists desirous of tasting the same (in which case, there’s less of spices and chillies used to accommodate their palates). Along with daal, bhat, and tarkari, are also served saag (spinach), tamatar ko achar (tomato pickle), and khasi ko masu (mutton curry). The last actually costs as much as the rest of the meal put together, mutton being quite an expensive item.
Today, no tourist worth his salt goes back home without having at least one such meal, and some day, probably, some experts will no doubt tout the simple daal, bhaat, and tarkari as one of the most well balanced meals ever, and one that provides not only enough calories to see you through the day, but a whole lot of nutrients as well. One other thing to be mentioned here is that many of the restaurants catering to tourists especially make it a point to offer aila (local Newari liquor) along with the meal, which doubtless, must go a long way in sharpening the foods’ flavor. Now, this aila, it’s something else; in fact, it literally burns its way down your throat and through your digestive system, aiding digestion, and at the end, resulting in a pleasant euphoric feeling. Look out especially for restaurants with the name ‘Thakali’ attached to it. These are restaurants that only serve typical Nepali meals as mentioned above, but with a generous dollop of pure ghee (clarified butter) over the steamed rice as well.
