Category Archives: Nepal

Everything about Nepal

Kheer (Rice pudding)

Kheer (Rice Pudding) is one of the favourite dishes in Nepal and is an integral part of parties and ceremonies.  Kheer is regarded as a “pure” food in Nepal, as it is rice cooked in milk and so it is used in all pujas as well as weddings and other religious celebrations.

There are many ways to prepare Kheer and I am sharing a quick and easy recipe using sweetened condensed milk to get the desired thickness and sweetness for Kheer.  I made a big portion recently, which served 20+ people so please adjust the recipe according to your need.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Arborio rice
  • 4 litres full fat milk
  • 2 tins (375 gm. each) sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped dry fruits
  • 2 tablespoons chopped Almonds
  • 10-15 cardamom pods sliced

20130629_095914-tile

 Steps

  • In a big container, pour all the milk and sweetened condensed milk and bring it to boil.

rice pudding rice pudding

  • In the meantime mix rice with ghee using your hand (do not wash rice).

rice pudding rice pudding

  • Pour rice into the hot boiling milk and stir it continually.
  • Cook the mixture for 15-20 minutes on low heat until rice gets cooked.

rice pudding

  • Kheer is ready when it becomes thick.
  • Turn off the heat and add chopped dried fruits, almonds and cardamom pods and mix well.

rice pudding rice pudding

  • Kheer is now ready to be served hot Or cool it down and put in the fridge as it tastes amazing when cold too and makes a great dessert.

You may also like:

*Seviya kheer (vermicelli kheer) *Aloo ko achar (nepali style potato salad) *Gundruk Aloo Bhatmas Curry

Learn Nepali : Adjectives

Some adjectives in Nepali. Please click here to learn more Nepali.

Nepali English
Mahango

Sasto

Expensive

Cheap

Ramro

Naramro

Good

Bad

Sapha

Phohar

Clean

Dirty

Thulo

Sano

Big

Small

Sajilo

Gahro

Easy

Hard

Thada

Najik

Far

Close

Chito

Dhilo

Fast

Slow

Tato

Cheeso

Hot

Cold (for food)

Garmi

Jaado

Hot

Cold (for weather)

Naya

Purano

New

Old

Dhani

Garib

Rich

Poor

Mitho

namitho

Tasty

Not tasty

Bhuteko Fried
Umaaleko Boiled
Noonilo Salty
Gooliyo Sweet
Amilo Sour
Tito Bitter
Piro Spicy

Loving Nepali Culture and traditions

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in June 2013 issue.

plus977

I have lived in Australian for over a decade and I have to admit, I love Nepal, its culture and traditions more than the day I left her.

It is funny to remember how relived I was when I received the visa to come here. It was like; finally, I was going to be out of Nepal, far from all the stupid traditions and cultures to a new land where I could start all over again. Even though I was very sad leaving my family behind, I was really excited for the possible future. The preparation to leave the country was done with high spirit and positive attitude.

Finally the big day came. Before I left the house, in a traditional manner, my grand ma put a red tika on my forehead, and blessed me with sagun. I still remember the time I spent at the airport in Kathmandu. I was a bit teary eyed while bidding good bye to all the people who came to see me off. I realised that day that I had so many people around me who loved me. I had my parents, my brother, my relatives, my cousins, my school friends and my college friends, more than 30 people there wishing me well and saying their good byes.

Travelling in a plane to Sydney for the first time, I knew I was blessed with loved one but still at the back of my mind, I was happy about my decision about leaving Nepal and coming here.

The first few weeks in Sydney were really exciting as it was a new place, so much to see and explore. I got my first mobile phone and it surely felt like my dream country. But then reality hit me. For the first time in life, I needed to find a job. It was quite an effort to work, to cook meals and study at the same time. I was missing Nepal and home a lot. I convinced myself that the hardship was just temporary and once I got settled, things would change.

Things did change for the better after I got a job and started making friends but I still missed my family and Nepal a lot. I was surprised that I was missing my morning ritual in Nepal, going to the temples with my dad. I was missing my mum’s puja in the morning, the noise of the chaotic traffic of Kathmandu, the vegetables and fruits vendors’ calls selling their stuffs door to door, the sound of temple bells, and missing all the festivals. Being far from home, I realised and slowly started to value the culture and tradition of Nepal which I used not to like.

The first Dashain and Tihar away from home were really hard ones. Even though holidays were the best part of Dashain and Tihar in Nepal, I missed the tika and other religious aspects of these festivals. I also missed celebrating my birthday in a traditional way, tika with sagun in the morning and visiting many temples during the day.

As time passed by, I started embracing Nepali culture and tradition and started following it as much as possible. I started taking down notes of what happens in our culture and it was a joy to explain to people from other countries the different aspects of Nepali tradition. It felt so good to see their reaction when I explained what we do during our festivals, wedding, birth and death. I realise that our culture is so unique and old that it is worth all the effort to preserve it

I started celebrating Dashain and Tihar in full swing and having more family and friends here definitely helped to make it better. Even though I am from a Newar background, I joined my friends when they celebrate Teej and love every minute of it. Living abroad definitely has made me appreciate Nepal and its culture lot more than before.

I went to Nepal and had a very traditional wedding and I was happy to participate in a very elaborate ceremony over many days. Recently, my brother and sister in law were blessed with a baby boy and we made sure we followed all the traditional rituals here even though we are so far away from home. He had his Chhaithi and Nwaran here and we all went to Nepal to celebrate his Pasni with our loved ones.

These days instead of getting annoyed by the tradition and culture in Nepal, I feel inquisitive. I always want to know more why we do Ihi, Gufa , Bartamanda, Saradha, Pasni, Nwaran or any other ritual. I want to learn the legends behind our every festival and one day wish to pass this knowledge on to my kids. I want them to be proud of Nepal and Nepali culture. Even though I am not in Nepal, Nepal and its culture and tradition will always be in me and I hope to spread this love to the next generation so they can be proud of our heritage, tradition and culture.

Do you still follow your cultures and traditions?

Till next post, take care.

M from nepaliaustralia

XOXO

You may also like :

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*Bolne ko pitho bikchhare, nabolne ko ta chamal pani bikdaina
 

Learn Nepali: Counting

This is how we count in Nepali. Please click here to learn more Nepali.

English

Nepali

1

ek (A-kh)

2

dui (Du-ee)

3

tien (Tee-n)

4

char (Cha-r)

5

panch (Pa-n-ch)

6

chha (Cha)

7

saat (Sa-at)

8

aath (Aa-th)

9

nau (Na-u)

10

das (Daa-ss)

11

eghara (A-ghaa-ra)

12

bara (Bha-ra)

13

teera (Th-e-ra)

14

chauda (Chau-da)

15

pandhra (Pan-dra)

16

sorha (So-rha)

17

satra (Sat-ra)

18

athara (Aa-tha-ra)

19

unais (Un-nai-s)

20

bis (Bis)

30

teece (Tee-sh)

40

chaleece (Cha-lee-sh)

50

pachaase (Pa-cha-sh)

60

70

sathi (Sat-ti)

sattari (Sa-tha-ri)

80

assi (aa-si)

90

nabbe (nab-be)

100

ek saye (A-kh sai-ya)

200

dwi saye (Du-ee sai-ya)

300

tin saye (Tee-n sai-ya)

1000

ek hazar (A-kh Ha-zar)

2000

dwi hazar (Du-ee Ha-zar)

100,000

ek lakh (A-kh la-kh)

1,000,000

dus lakh (Daa-ss la-kh)

half

aadha (aa-dha)

less

kaam (cum)

more

dherai (dhe-raii)

Bokshi’s bites

Bokshi means witch or a woman who practices black magic.

I have never believed in those stuffs but it is funny how things come up.

I have been sick the last few days and for the last few weeks, I am having nightmares. I really can’t remember them much but I know they were bad dreams as I remember running or falling and waking up in the middle of the night, panicked. I tried everything to get a better sleep but with no success.

I think I am having bad dream because I am stressed out. So much is happening around me that some nights, I am half sleep and I feel that someone is talking to me. Then the other day I saw this bruise on my thigh. It was oval shaped and dark blue in colour. I couldn’t remember bumping into anything but I have a bruise and it hurts.

bokshi biteSo, when I showed that to AS, he said it looks like something they call Bokshi’s bite in Nepal.

In Nepal, people believe that a bokshi sucks blood of other women to harm them. People still hold to the myth that such blue patches are marks after the bokshi has bitten and sucked their blood. Accordingly, the patches seem like a bite, kind of like a hikey. The mark of upper and lower teeth remains for a couple of days and it hurts as well.

I am sure it is nothing like that but hearing those things, we are always reminded of myths like that. I wonder how these things come to exist but doing further research, this is what I found.

According to a doctor, blue patches are frequent amongst women who are anemic. Accordingly, such patches develop often if there is any kind of deficiency in blood components or the person’s blood itself – for instance, in anemia. Generally, women in their fertility period get the patches. Such condition is known as bruises, bluish discoloration of skin, or ecchymosis.

A woman’s body is in need of blood as there is a heavy loss of it during menstruation. Thus, the blood capillaries burst in specific areas, causing bleeding under the skin. Besides, such bluish bruises also occur in women who have had their menopause, or are in that phase, as changes occur in the blood-clotting factor, which also affects the colouring factor of blood. And similar is the case in girls who have just reached their puberty. In the meantime, if there is deficiency of Vitamin C, then such bruises occur frequently.

As an early treatment, the doctor suggests taking iron capsules since it boosts hemoglobin. However, if this does not help, it is wise to have a blood test.

Furthermore, the doctor explains, the second layer of body skin has the most blood veins among the three layers. So if there is any kind of pressure on the capillaries, then bleeding can occur in the second layer of skin. But there can be no superficial bleeding. Blue patches appear more often if it is aplastic anemia. Usually, in this type of anemia, there is superficial bleeding and a continuous one, such as from the ears and nose.

Bluish discoloration of the skin can be related to many diseases. For instance, liver disease, scurvy, abnormal functioning of the kidneys, eye diseases, hormonal disorder, problems in circulatory functions, and lack of blood platelet, which helps in blood-clotting.

Unlike women, men don’t lose blood from their bodies so such patches are rare in them. If it appears then it’s serious. The patches might develop on men with liver cirrhosis or hormonal disorder. Men with hemophilia, a genetic disorder, also get such patches.

Explaining the shape of the patch which appears like a bite mark, the doctor says, It’s hypnotism. Because everyone has been repeating the same thing, we also feel that it’s a tooth mark. But actually, it’s the path of blood vessels, which can vary.

So here is the explanation for Bokshi’s bite on my leg. I don’t believe in black magic and divine power. If a person possesses divine power then why don’t they use it to make their life better than selling it to other for money? I really think there are so many things we can’t explain in this universe and that is why we give them different names.

I believe that everyone has a darker side, some darker than others. Therefore, when someone calls a person bokshi (witch), it is just a stage when that person has a personality disorder or a mental illness. So we need to help these people get proper medical treatment to make them better.

Do you believe in black magic? If you have any interesting story please share.

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