Category Archives: Nepal

My mum’s pan fried Rohu fish

Posted on March 14, 2016 | 2 comments

Nothing can beat mum’s home cooked meals. One of the things I have always craved for is my mum’s fried fish. I used to eat them almost every week when I was in Nepal but since I came here, I wasn’t able to make it as tasty as my mom used to make it. So last night I got mom to cook the fish for us so I that I could take notes of the recipe and I am sharing this with all of you too.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole Rohu fish (2kg) cut into pieces about 1 to 1 ½ cm thick
  • 3 teaspoons Coriander powder
  • 3 teaspoons Coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons Chilli powder
  • 2 teaspoons Garlic mince
  • 2 teaspoons Ginger powder
  • 2 tablespoon Mustard seeds (or powder)
  • Salt to taste (I used 5 teaspoons)
  • 300 ml vegetable oil

Method

  • If you are using mustard seed, use mortar and pestle or grinder to make the powder.

basa fish (1) basa fish (3)

  • In a large bowl, add fish, Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Turmeric powder, Garlic mince, Ginger powder, Mustard powder and salt.

basa fish (2)

  • Mix it well with a help of wooden spoon as it has sharp bones.
  • Leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes or more if possible.

basa fish (4)

  • In a large pan, heat oil.

basa fish (5)

  • Add pieces of fish in a pan making sure they are don’t touching each other.

basa fish (6)

  • Cover the pan and let it cook until brown.
  • Turn the fishes and fry till it is brown on the other side too.

basa fish (7)

  • Have a plate ready with a couple of kitchen paper towels on it.
  • Place the fishes on the plate to soak excess oil out.

basa fish (8)

  • It is best enjoyed hot and be careful of the small bones.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to nominate your favourite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2015

2 Comments

Posted in Nepali food, Recipe

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Soy Chunks Vegetarian Momo

Posted on March 8, 2016 | 2 comments

Momo is a very popular dish in Nepal and almost all Nepalese love them. I usually make chicken or pork momo but sometimes I have vegetarians in my guest list so I used to make cabbage and onion veggie momo which I have to admit is not very as yummy. Recently one of my cousins made some vegetarian momo which was as yummy was the non-veg ones so I had to try and learn how to make it.

The vegetarian momo was made with Soy chunks and paneer (cottage cheese).

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Soy Chunks (soak in water for an hour)

vegetable momo (2)

  • 1 medium size onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup of finely chopped Cabbage
  • 100 gm Paneer cut into small pieces

vegetable momo (1)

  • 3 table spoons soy sauce
  • 2 table spoons coriander powder
  • 2 table spoons cumin powder
  • 1 table spoon red chili powder
  • 3 table spoons oil
  • 1 cup of fresh coriander finely chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 packet momo wrapper (30 pieces)

Methods

Note: You can make the momo achar beforehand as per linked method and put it in the fridge.

Jhol achar

Tomatoes achar

  • Put the Soy chunks in a blender mince and place in a large bowl.

vegetable momo (3) vegetable momo (4)

  • Add onion, cabbage, soy sauce, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, oil, fresh coriander, cabbage, and salt.
  • Mix well and the filling is ready.

vegetable momo (5)

  • Make momo as shown in the video below.

  • In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a steamer.
  • Once momo is ready, put on the steamer for 10-15 minutes.
  • Enjoy the momo with achar.
  • I promise it tastes just as good as the non-veg momo 🙂

Jhol momo soup (7)

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to nominate your favourite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2015

2 Comments

Posted in Nepali food, Recipe

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Lito: Nutritious Nepali baby food

Posted on February 29, 2016 | 5 comments

Living overseas, I always miss small things from home. When I had Chhori one of the things I wanted to feed her was Lito, a nutritious baby food used in Nepal. Luckily for me there are many Nepali grocery shops in Sydney and I finally found some Lito. I was happy as I didn’t need to make it but unfortunately, in a premade lito, they add powder milk making it sweet.

Chhori is not into formula so she didn’t like the store bought lito that much. So, I decided that it is time for me to make some lito at home for her which will be very high in nutrition and organic as well.

So here is my first attempt at making the Lito.

Ingredients

  • Rice 160 gm
  • Beaten/Flattened rice (Chiura) 160 gm
  • Corn 80 gm
  • Whole wheat 80 gm
  • Brown soybeans (bhatmas) 80 gm
  • Brown chick peas 80 gm
  • 6 Cashews
  • 6 Almonds

IMG_3449

Methods

  • Dry roast rice, beaten rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, chickpeas, cashews and almonds seperately on a pan.

IMG_3450

  • Grind each of them separately as they have different textures.

IMG_3815

  • Once done use the strainer to make sure that the powder is fine.

IMG_3811

  • Mix everything together and Lito is ready to be cooked.

IMG_3818

  • You can store the Lito in an airtight container for a few months.

To cook lito, just add hot water and mix well.

If you want it to be more flavorsome, heat a pan and, add 1/2 teaspoon of ghee, 1/2 teaspoon of ajwain. Now add lito and water and let it boil. Salt is optional. You can choose the consistency of the Lito according to the age of the baby and how your baby likes it.

Hope you will enjoy making this nutritious food for your little one.

Chhori is happy to eat Lito so I am happy to make an effort 🙂

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to nominate your favourite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2015

5 Comments

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Newari Gwaramari

Posted on February 23, 2016 | 3 comments

In Kathmandu most of us have happy memories of eating Gwaramari and tea for breakfast during cold winter months.

In Newari “Gwara” means round and “mari” means bread so Gwaramari literally means round bread but to people who have eaten it, it is not just ordinary bread but a very yummy one with a distinct flavour.

I was craving for some Gwaramari for a while so I decided to try making it with a friend. It took us a few attempts to get it right but I am very happy with the end result. It tasted really good.

Ingredients

  • 250 g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • Salt to taste
  • 300 ml water
  • 500ml vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

Method

  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cumin, coriander and salt.

Nepali Gwaramari (2)

  • Add water slowly stirring continuously to make a thick paste.
  • If you have time, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight otherwise for at least 2 hours.

Nepali Gwaramari (3)

  • In a deep pan, heat the vegetable oil. The oil is hot enough, if you drop small amount of batter and it quickly rises and becomes brown.
  • Once the oil is hot enough, take a table spoon of mixture and place it gently on the hot oil. The dough will puff up and rise to the top of the pan. You can add multiple balls at the same time.

Nepali Gwaramari (4)

  • Fry them until golden brown.
  • Take it out and use paper towel to soak the extra oil.

Nepali Gwaramari (1)

  • It is best served hot with some Masala tea.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

3 Comments

Posted in Foodie, Nepali food, Newari Food, Recipe

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Chhori’s first Nepali Father’s Day

Posted on September 13, 2015 | 1 comment

Only last week, it was Australian Father’s Day and AS was over the moon to be able to celebrate it with Chhori. Today is Kushe Aushi (Nepali Father’s Day). I made plans to make it special for AS as it is his first and I wanted to celebrate it in traditional Nepali way.

Nepali father's Day (5)

I prepared puja, Sagun (traditionally a plate of boiled egg, smoked fish, a “bara”, fried chicken and yogurt). I also baked a cake with the wording “For the record, you are the world’s best dad; Happy Father’s Day AS” on it.

Nepali father's Day (2) Nepali father's Day (4)

I also baked some cupcakes. I made a special card with Chhori’s handprints and “Happy Father’s Day” written on it. I also got him some fruits, biscuits and t-shirt.

Nepali father's Day (1)

I was so happy to see everything come together and AS was really pleased with my efforts.

Nepali father's Day (3)

So Chhori observed her first Nepali Father’s Day with my help. First we put tika on AS forehead.

Nepali father's Day (7) Nepali father's Day (8)

Then we give him Sagun. After that Chhori and AS cut the cake together.

Nepali father's Day (9)

He was pleased with the card as well and Chhori had a great time too.

I and AS also talked to our dads and send them gifts for Father’s Day. It is always so nice to see them happy. I really appreciate what they have done for us.

So if you are from Nepal and you haven’t called your dad to wish him, do give him a call and make him smile. And to all the proud dads out there, Happy Father’s Day.

Take care everyone.
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO

1 Comment

Posted in Nepali Culture, Newari Culture, Our daughter

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