Category Archives: Nepal

Dakshinkali Temple

Posted on June 14, 2014 | 5 comments

Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometres outside Kathmandu and the last time when I was in Nepal, I went there with my parents.

Dakshinkali Temple is one of the most famous and popular Hindu shrines dedicated to Goddess Kali, “The Black One”. Scowling and emaciated, with protruding tongue and red eyes, decked with a necklace of skulls, Kali is just another form of the great goddess Durga. Kali is believed to be extremely powerful and accomplished. In Hindus holy Vedas and Purans, it is written that she has a blue body with three eyes, each eye is made up of the Sun, the Moon and fire respectively.

The drive from our place to the temple was very scenic once we crossed the ring road area. The roads were windy but I loved the view of old houses and wide green fields.

Legend has it that Daksinkali came into existence after goddess Kali herself appeared in the dream of a Malla king, the ruler of 14th century Nepal. Goddess Kali then commanded the king to build a temple dedicated to her in a very unknown and strange place. As the command was about to be followed, a person said that he already had a stone image of the goddess kali in the same place where the goddess  commanded the king to build the temple. The idol was then left open to the elements as she had commanded and over her head a gilded canopy was erected with four golden serpents. Also images of lord Ganesh, seven Asthamatrikas and a stone Bhairav were erected near her image.

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Dakshinkali temple is of great importance among those who need her blessing and also among the blessed ones. There is a strong belief in the ability of the goddess to make wishes come true.

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To satisfy the blood-lust of the goddess, pilgrims take a menagerie of chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, pigs and even the occasional buffalo up the path to the temple to be beheaded and transformed into cuts of meat by the temple priests, who are also skilled butchers.

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We went there on the weekdays so it was not busy. It took us 10 minutes for our puja and from there we went to another temple on the top of the hill which is called the Mata temple.

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After puja, we went to one of the local restaurants and had tea and freshly prepared sel, jeri, and malpuwa. Just writing about it, I am salivating as it was really good.

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After that my mum did a quick shopping at the local market there as they were selling gundruk, kafal and other items.

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On the way back home, we also stopped at the Sheka Narayan.

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There is temple on the top and a pond filled with crystal clear water. The pond has different types of fishes swimming around. There was a guy selling a bag of bread to feed the fish. It was a really nice and quiet place compared to Dakshinkali Temple.

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Every time I visit places like this, I feel really happy to see all the old Nepali architecture and idols of god which has been preserved from ages past. If you are in Kathmandu, it is a nice place to go for a day trip.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

5 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepal 2014

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Kwati: Nepali mixed bean soup

Posted on June 3, 2014 | 9 comments

This is a guest post I wrote for , Chai- A cup of life, amazing blog I have been following for a while. Thank you so much for the opportunity and sharing the post here.

I would like to introduce you to M who writes her blog called ‘Nepali Australian‘. M is a Nepalese born Australian living in Sydney, an IT Business Analyst who loves blogging, travelling and fashion! We have been following each others blogs for some time now and I love reading about her thoughts, the Nepalese way of life and of course her life in Sydney. Her writings have been published in magazines, newspapers and she has even held her own Nepali Australian ‘Blog Awards 2013′, (which Chai a Cup of Life received an award for- thank you!) Today she is sharing a traditional Nepalese dish called ‘Kwati’. Here it is: 

It is really cold in Sydney these days. It is supposed to be autumn but it feels like winter already so I am always looking to cook warm meals for dinner. In Nepal, they have food for every season and Kwatiis especially made during rainy and cold season and is a very popular Nepali soup. Kwati is a traditional Nepalese dish which is a thick stew of several kinds of beans. It is high in protein so it is considered good to be given to sick people to gain strength.

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This soup is  made during the festival JanaiPurnimain Nepal. Kwati is normally a mix of 9 beans namely, black eye peas, cow peas, black lentils, chickpeas, adzuki, soybeans, mung dal, green peas and favas. But we can use any beans and pluses you have to make this soup. Luckily for me, I found a pre-mixedkwati pack in a Nepali grocery store.

Some people like to sprout it before making it into a soup but I just soaked it overnight and made the soup without sprouting.

Ingredients

  • 200 gm Kwati Mix
  • 1 medium onion sliced
  • 2medium tomatoes diced
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 1 tablespoon of red chilli powder
  • 1 tablespoon of garam masala powder
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • 3 cups of vegetable /chicken stock
  • A few bay leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 teaspoons of ghee
  • 1 teaspoon jwanu (Lovage)

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Steps

  • Wash and soak the Kwati mix overnight and drain the water.

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  • In a pressure cooker, heat oil and season with turmeric powder and bay leaf. Add the chopped onion and fry until it turns golden brown.
  • Add ginger garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and fry for a minute or two.

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  • Add chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft. Make them into a paste.
  •  Add the soaked Kwati mix to the pressure cooker, mix well and add vegetable /chicken stock and cook until 5-7 whistles or until you can smell the beans.

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  •  Let it cool in the pressure cooker before you open the lid. As there are different types of beans, test the big ones like broad beans to check if it is cooked properly. The beans must be tender on touch. If it is not cooked enough then press again.

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  • In a pan, heat the ghee.

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  • Once ghee is hot, add jwanu(lovage)and fry for 30 seconds until it is dark brown in colour.

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  • Pour this into the pressure cooker with kwati and mix well.

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  • You could add more water/vegetable /chicken stock depending upon how thick you want the soup.

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P.S : If you are not into vegetable soup, you could add cooked/boiled  meat into the soup as well. Enjoy a tasty and healthy soup!!

9 Comments

Posted in Foodie, Nepal, Nepali food, Recipe

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Nepal is a poor country with rich people

Posted on May 27, 2014 | 50 comments

Every time I visit Nepal, I feel that Kathmandu is so expensive and wonder how people who live there manage.

For a country, which is listed as one of the poorest in the world with Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at just $743 you don’t get that feeling when you walk around the city.

If you look around, everyone has a new mobile phone, the latest iPads, fancy new clothes and a feast for every festival. It always makes me wonder how they manage to live like that when I know that the average salary in Nepal is NRS 10,000 ($100) per month.

Every time I go back, I can see that prices of things have doubled from last time and the quality has gone down. Having been to places like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, definitely the quality of things sold is Kathmandu is not very good.

I believe that I am among the average income family for Australia but still after paying mortgage and bills, there is not much left to play around so we have to plan well for any holidays and other luxuries in life but in Kathmandu people seem to be living a real luxury life. I know most of my friends/family in Kathmandu have one things sorted easily, they don’t need to worry about buying/building their own house with their salary. Either they have their family home or have some sort of inheritance sorted to build their home. I think that make them really rich because I know, most of our salary go towards the mortgage.

I went shopping with a few of my friends and cousins who live in Kathmandu and the way they shop is so different from the way I do. The things I felt were expensive, they thought were normal and just bought them. Seriously I can’t justify paying between NPR 30,000 – NPR 1,00,000 ($300-$1000) for a lehengha or sari which is to be worn once a year. I also can’t justify a new mobile/tablet every year just to look cool and I definitely can’t justify paying NPR 400 ($4.00) for a hot water with honey and lemon. A lemon in Nepal is NPR 10 and one spoon of honey is NPR 50 max so it sounds ridiculous that people are paying so much for it in a restaurant. They are paying NPR 2500 for a foundation and NPR 1500 for a lip gloss, seriously. Just a reminder again, average salary in Nepal is NPR 10,000 a month. I know it sounds OK in terms of dollar here but not in Nepal for sure.

I could go on and on but people in Nepal are happily paying this price. They say it is expensive but still pay for these luxuries without blinking hence my conclusion that Nepal is a poor country with rich people.

Do you feel the same? If you live in Kathmandu, how do you manage?

50 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ Nepal

Posted on May 24, 2014 | 4 comments

I am sure you have heard the ‘Happy’ song by Pharell Williams and the video clip which features happy people doing happy things which has been really popular.

Since its original video has been out, people all over the word have been doing their own versions of the song and I am sharing the Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ Nepal version here. I liked it as it shows different places in Kathmandu and people of all ages.

Enjoy!

While we are talking about Nepal, let me also share another great video that will make you want to drop everything and go to Nepal . If you have not already, hope after watching this video, you will.

4 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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When are you thinking of moving to Nepal again permanently?

Posted on May 21, 2014 | 22 comments

In one of my post, one of the fellow blogger, asked me the question “When are you thinking of moving to Nepal again permanently? “Many people have asked me this question before and I too have asked myself the same question repeatedly.

If the question was “Are you thinking of moving to Nepal again permanently?” my answers will be definitely YES but I am not sure when.

Initially, I wanted to go there before I turned 40 because I was thinking I will have my life sorted out by then and will have good income to go and live in Nepal with my family. When I used to answer like that lots of people around me told me that things would change in the future and it seems they might have been right because now I am not sure when I will be going and I am sure having a baby and owning a house definitely makes a big difference.

Still, I want to retire there but it is not going to be anytime soon.

I left Nepal initially for study, but it has been more than a decade and in that time I have learned a lot, seen a lot and have done extensive traveling. I have seen many places, tasted different food, met different people and seen different life-styles. However, I remain proud of my roots and I visit Nepal as often as I can. I doubt that that would ever change.

Every time I plan a trip to Nepal, I feel happy thinking of the traditional food, friends to meet, movies to watch and travel.

The first time I visited Nepal my friends were busy and so I really did not get much time to spend with them. Of course, they had their life in Nepal and they couldn’t just drop everything for me just because I was on holiday. I got sick with diarrhoea and vomiting. Three months in Nepal went by so quickly just going to relatives’ homes and a bit of travel.

Since them every time I have been there, the situation was similar or worse because most of my friends were married by then and some even had kids which meant they had lots of responsibilities in their day-to-day life to make time to meet me or entertainment me.

Then I got married and things changed completely because now I had two families to spend time with so I had even less free time for other stuffs like catching up with friends. Every time I visit Nepal, the reality of living in Nepal forever seems harder and harder as things are completely different from what I imagine in my head.

Now we have a mortgage as well which means we are not going anywhere until it is all paid off. So I am sure I will not be moving back to Nepal in my 40s for sure but I am still hoping to retire there. When that will really happen, only time will tell but I definitely want to.

I still have a dream of building our own all Nepali style house with carved wooden doors and windows. I still want a garden with Dhunge Dhara (stone water tap) and lovely view. I still want to wake up to the sound of temple bells . I still want to live in a place where I am not asked “Where are you from?” every day. I still want our kids to know our culture and traditions and be proud of it.

Hope this dream will come true one day.

Please share your story about your decisions of making another country your permanent home. What caused your decision and How did your decision affect you?

Take care ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

22 Comments

Posted in Australia, Nepal, Personal

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