Category Archives: Nepali food

Happy Dashain!!!

Today is the first day of our 15 days long festival of Dashain. Like every year, we have plans to celebrate it with friends and family.

Today is Ghatasthapana, the day when Jamara is planted so it is ready to be used for Vijaya Dashaimi.

My Jamara in Tika day

This year, our Dashain will be extra special because AS’s uncle and his family are visiting Sydney and we will be spending a few days with them during the festival.

Dashain Tika (11)

We will also have our usual celebration with samay baji and Tika celebration as well as Dashain Nakhatey.

Dashain

A RELAXED mind, A PEACEFUL soul, A JOYFUL spirit, A HEALTHY body, A Heart full of Love, May U have all these every day. Happy Dashain everyone!!!

Here are the posts I have written regarding Dashian over the years .

Dashain Tika (13) Dashain Tika (3)

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to nominate  your favorite blog .

Nominations open for NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

Golveda Kerau Achar (Tomato and Green Pea’s achar)

Ingredients

  • 4 medium tomatoes chopped
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 cup green peas (I used frozen one)
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Fresh coriander to garnish

Steps

  • Heat up the pan on high heat and add oil.
  • Add turmeric powder and peas and stir it for a minute or so.

achar (1)

  • Add chopped tomatoes into the pan, stir it and cover it with a lid for 3-5 minutes. Do not forget to stir it in between.
  • Once the tomatoes are mushy in texture, add chilli powder, salt to taste, coriander and cumin powder.

achar (2)

  • Stir well and mash the tomatoes to give it a gravy texture.
  • Add ¼ cup of water and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes on low heat.

achar (3)

  • Place the achar in a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander.

achar (4)

Take care ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Dry fry Nepali style goat curry

I had guests for lunch last weekend. They informed me that they don’t eat chicken and chicken is what I do best. I decided to make goat for them but wanted to do something special. I have never tried the goat like this before but was so proud at the end when the goat curry turned out so good that I didn’t even have a piece left at the end of the day. Even my brother who doesn’t like goat at all ate it and had second helping. AS was really happy and the guests all praised my cooking. My mum will be so proud to know that I am becoming a better cook every day.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg goat with bones cut into 1 inch cubes (pieces with bones can be a bit bigger too)
  • 3 medium onions thinly sliced
  • 2 dry red chilies
  • 2 medium tomatoes diced
  • 2 tablespoons ginger & garlic paste
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
  • 6-8 curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon red chili powder
  • 3 tablespoons garam masala powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 5 tablespoons oil
  • Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

  • In a pressure cooker, put cut goat meat cover half the meat with water and add 1 tablespoon of salt.
  • Cook it until the whistle goes off 5-8 times. Let it cool down.
  • The meat is perfect if you can separate the meat from the bone with hand.

goat curry (1)

  • Drain the water and pour the meat into a large bowl with 2 tablespoons ginger & garlic paste, 1 tablespoon red chili powder, 3 tablespoons garam masala powder, 2 table spoon of oil and marinat well and leave it for at least a few hours in the fridge. I left mine overnight and it was just great.

goat curry (2)

  • In a pan, add oil, onion and salt and sauté until onion becomes soft and translucent. Take the onion out of the pan and put it aside.

goat curry (3)

  • In the same pan, add remaining oil, add dry red chillies, cinnamon stick and curry leaves and fry them for a minute.

goat curry (4)

  • Now add the marinated meat and fry until the meat is brown on all the sides. Keep stirring frequently making sure, the meat doesn’t stick to pan and keep frying for 5 to 8 minutes on medium flame.

goat curry (5)

  • Add tomatoes and fry them all together for about 5 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked and mussy.

goat curry (6)

  • Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

goat curry (7)

Take care and happy FRIDAY ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Preserved lemon achar (kagati ko achar)

Ingredients

  • 1 kg small lemon
  • 350 gms salt
  • 150 gms red chili powder
  • 20 gms turmeric powder
  • 150ml of oil

IMG_1361

Steps

  • Wash the lemons and use paper towel to pat dry.
  • Let it air dry for a few minutes after that to ensure there are no water particles.
  • In the meantime, wash a glass bottle/pickle jar and dry it well.
  • Cut each lemon into quarters.
  • In a large bowl, add lemon, salt, chilli and turmeric powder.

IMG_1368

  • Mix well with hands to mix all the spices with the lemon to coat them with the spices.

IMG_1369

  • Transfer prepared pickle into the glass bottle/ jar using a spoon.

IMG_1373

  • Make sure you fill only ¾ of the jar. Close the lid tightly so no air can go inside. Use glad wrap on the lid if necessary to make it air tight.

IMG_1380

  • Leave for a week under direct sunlight to dry the lemon.

IMG_1388

  • Move the lemon around every day so the spice gets to all of the lemons and they all get the sun .
  • The lemon is ready to eat once the salt melts and coats the lemon wedges.
  • If you want to make the pickle last longer, add oil into the jar and keep in the sun for 2 more days.
  • Now the pickle will last for a few months.
  • Never use wet hands or spoon to handle pickle.

IMG_1890

  • Enjoy!!!

 Take care ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Chana chatpat

Chana chatpat is a snack I used to love while growing up in Kathmandu. They were usually sold by street vendors and I used to love it. Now every time I go back, I feel like having it but am scared of getting sick so I decided to try to make my own home made Chana chatpat. I am happy with the result even though it might lack the touch of the street vendor.

I think it is healthy and definitely tasty snack perfect for anytime.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup puffed rice
  • ½ cup chickpeas, soaked (I used canned)
  • 1/2 cup aloo bujiya (bought a pack from Indian grocery store)
  • 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
  • 1 medium sized tomato, finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon mustard oil
  • 1 table lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves
  • 2 teaspoons of chat masala (salt if chat masala not available)

chana chatpat (1)

 Method

  • Mix puffed rice, chopped onion, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, green chilli, aloo bujiya , coriander leaves in a bowl.

chana chatpat (2)

  • Now add lemon juice and oil and mix it well.
  • The chana chatpat is ready.
  • I served mine in a paper cone like the street vendors in Kathmandu, you can just serve in a plate or bowl.

chana chatpat (3)

Note : It needs to be consumed immediately otherwise the puffed rice will go soft and it won’t be nice and crunchy as it is supposed to be.
Hope this will bring back your childhood memories as well 🙂

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO