Category Archives: Nepal

Everything about Nepal

Aloo Tama bodi (Potato with Bamboo Shoot and black eye beans)

Posted on October 12, 2012 | 18 comments

This is one of the popular dishes in Nepali/ Newari cuisine. In Newari style Bhoj (feast) you will always find this dish.

Aloo Tama is a classic Nepali soup prepared with black eyed beans, potatoes, bamboo shoots and spices. Tama is a non-fermented bamboo shoot product. Aloo tama is well-loved comfort food cooked almost in every household throughout Nepal. The enduring popularity of this dish is that, it is extremely tasty and very appetizing mainly for its slightly sour and pungent taste. There are different way to cook this and today I am sharing my style using pressure cooker.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup bamboo shoots (preferably sour one)
  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled, and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 1 cup black-eyed peas (soaked overnight)
  • 1 teaspoon dry cumin seeds (jira)
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3 red dry chilies
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 medium chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Lemon juice to taste

Steps

  • First of all let the black eyed beans shock in water for overnight. If you forget to soak it overnight, you can soak in hot water for few hours and it will be fine.

  • Heat oil in a pan. I used pressure cooker.
  • Add turmeric, dry cumin seeds and red chilli and fry until it is dark.

  • Then add garlic and ginger.

  • Add chopped onion and cook few minutes on low heat.

  • Add potatoes to the onion and sauté for at least 5 minutes in medium heat.

  • Add little water so that it doesn’t stick on the pan.
  • Add soaked beans, tomatoes and fry for few minutes.

  • Add 2 cup of water, salt, chilli powder and cover the pressure cooker and press for 6-10 whistle or until potatoes is cooked.
  • Take off the pressure cooker and let it cool down.

  • Now add bamboo shoots and 1 cup water ,cover it and let it simmer for another 10 minute or until desired consistency is reached.

  •  Taste and add lemon juice as required to make it bit sour.
  • Sever with roti or rice.

You may also like :

*Aloo dum *Aloo ko achar *Aloo chop

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Posted in Nepali food, Newari Food, Recipe

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World’s largest Thangka painting on display in Kathmandu

Posted on October 10, 2012 | 18 comments

A “Thangka,” also known as “Tangka”, “Thanka” or “Tanka” is a silk painting with embroidery, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala of some sort. The thankga is not a flat creation like an oil painting or acrylic painting but consists of a picture panel which is painted or embroidered over which a textile is mounted and then over which is laid a cover, usually silk. Generally, thangkas last a very long time and retain much of their lustre, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture won’t affect the quality of the silk. It is sometimes called a scroll-painting.

These thangkas served as important teaching tools depicting the life of the Buddha, various influential lamas and other deities and bodhisattvas. One subject is The Wheel of Life, which is a visual representation of the Abhidharma teachings (Art of Enlightenment).

Recently in Kathmandu an exhibition of 70 m x 50 m thangka was organised by the Nepal Council for Preservation of Buddhist Religion (NCPBR) in association with Mandala 21st Century, Japan. It has been created by the joint effort of Surya Bahadur Thakali, Chairman of NCPBR and Yasutada Katagiri, President of Mandala 21st Century, a Japanese citizen.

 “The dream of creating the largest ever thangka was conceived in 1994 and with the effort of more than 10,000 volunteers from over 16 countries in a span of eight years, this masterpiece was put together. We feel proud of completing this big campaign and sharing the philosophies of the Buddha among all the people in the world.” Surya Bahadur Thakali explained about the Thangka.

The thangka depicts Buddha’s life story summarised in the 12 deeds that he performed from his birth to his life’s end. It weighs 1,900 kg and was completed by joining 81 pieces, each piece 20 feet in length and 18 feet in breadth with help of zippers.

At the exhibition, the thangka looked like a huge pool — you couldn’t really see clearly from one end of it to the other and only when you climbed to the top of the stadium that the thangka could be seen in its full form which was breathtaking in its exquisite detail, which is the main characteristic of a thangka.

Please look at the amazing creation

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Posted in Nepal, Nepali Culture

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Nepali Sel – roti (Crispy Rice Donut)

Posted on October 6, 2012 | 25 comments

Dashain, the biggest festival of Hindu in Nepal, is just around the corner so I decided to learn how to make Sel roti, a speciality of the festival.  Dashain is celebrated for 15 days in Nepal. Sel can be eaten as a snack by itself or together with some side dishes if you like, such as aloo ko achar. Last Dashain I bought them $2 a piece so this time I wanted to make my own 🙂

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1 cup rice soaked overnight
  • 5 tablespoons sugar (add more if you like sweet)
  • 2 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
  • ½ cup ghee (clarified butter)

Steps

  • Wash and soak rice overnight, drain excess water and grind into a semi coarse paste.

  • In a bowl, add ghee and sugar.
  • Using electric mixer, mix it well and slowly add rice flour and plain flour.

  • Add all the rice paste to the mixture and mix it well using hand.

  • Leave the batter for few hours in the fridge.
  • Heat oil in a deep pan, making sure the oil is not too hot.

  • Clean an empty water bottle and cut into half so it will be like a funnel. (Use funnel if you have but I didn’t so I used empty water bottle.)

  • Put the mixture into the funnel and carefully, pour batter into oil into a doughnuts shape

  • Once it comes to the surface and is golden brown at the bottom, turn it over and cook for one minute on the other side.

  • Use wooden chopsticks to turn the Sel if you have one so that the Sel doesn’t break.

  • Once both sides are crispy and golden brown, remove from the oil and place on paper towel until ready to serve

  • Repeat with the rest of the mixture

You may also like :

*Yomari *Momo *Aloo chop

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Posted in Nepali food, Recipe

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Indra Jatra

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 8 comments

Today is Indra Jatra.

Indra Jatra is one of the biggest religious street festivals in Kathmandu. The festival of Indra Jatra takes place in September each year and heralds the end of the monsoon season. It is primarily in honour of the rain god, Indra. It is also known as Yenyā in Newari/Nepal Bhasa.

The 8 day long Indra Jatra Festival begins on the 12th day (Dwadasi) of the bright half (Shukla Pakshya) of the lunar month Bhadra and concludes on the 4th day ( Chaturthi) of the dark fortnight of lunar month Ashwin but the most important day is the 3rd day when the procession of Kumari -the Living Goddess and other deities are taken out.

According to an ancient legend, the young Indra, disguised as a farmer, descended to earth in search of Parijat, a white flower, his mother, Dagini, needed to perform a ritual. He found the Parijat, but was caught while trying to take the flower by the owner of the meadow where he found the flowers. He was bound and imprisoned in Kathmandu until his mother, worried about his extended absence, came looking for him. When the city folk realized who they had imprisoned, they agreed to release Indra but on the condition that he would return to the earth every year during that time and be displayed as a prisoner for 7 days and that he would provide enough rain (dew during winter) for the crops. So, during this festival, images of Lord Indra are displayed for 7 days, but in captivity. Dagini promises enough dew throughout the winter to ensure a rich crop and to take back with her to heaven all those who had died in the past year.

The Indra Jatra festival thus honours the recently deceased and pays homage to Indra and Dagini for the coming harvests.

People from all over Nepal, mostly those who live within the Kathmandu Valley, gather at Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu. The first day of the festival is viewed by a large number of people. It begins when a huge, carefully selected pole, carried via Tundikhel (Kathmandu’s parade ground), is erected outside the Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu. A flag of Lord Indra is tied at the apex of the pole.

A young male goat is sacrificed to the forest deity before the tree is brought down to carve the pole. The giant facade of Aakash Bhairab, which remains hidden behind the caged bar throughout the year, is opened today for the next three days. Local Newari ethnics pour the home brewed beer into the mouth of Bhairab and people compete to get a sip when the drink spouts out. People display the images of Lord Indra and make sacrifices of goats and roosters. There is a brief dances during the pole erecting ceremony.

Classical dancers also assemble at the spot, wearing different kinds of traditional masks and costumes and dancing around the courtyard of Hanuman Dhoka to celebrate Indra’s visit.

On the third day of the festival of Indra Jatra, the living goddess Kumari is taken out in a procession in a chariot. Kumari – the Living Goddess of Nepal comes out from the seclusion of her residence and tours the city on a temple chariot. Along with Kumari, other deities like Ganesh – the elephant headed God, and Bhairav are also paraded throughout the city.

Kumari is greeted from the balcony of the old palace by the president. The procession then continues out of Durbar Square towards Hanuman Dhoka where it stops in front of the huge Seto Bhairab mask. The Kumari greets the image of Bhairab and then, with loud musical accompaniment, beer starts to pour from Bhairab’s mouth! Getting a sip of this beer is guaranteed to bring good fortune, but one lucky individual will also get the small fish that has been put into the beer – this is said to bring even more good luck.

Numerous other processions also take place around the town until the final day when the great pole is lowered and carried down to the river.

8 Comments

Posted in Nepal, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals

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Please help Pushpa Basnet to win CNN Hero 2012

Posted on September 22, 2012 | 8 comments

“It’s not fair for (these) children to live in a prison because they haven’t done anything wrong…My mission is to make sure no child grows up behind prison walls.” These are the words of Pushpa Basnet, a social worker and Founder/President of Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) and Butter Home, non-profit organisations in Kathmandu, Nepal. In Nepal, when there is no local guardian available, an arrested parent often must choose to keep their children in jail with them.

I have talked about Pushpa Basnet before in this post. Please read it to learn more about this amazing human being who has sacrificed her life towards the welfare of children of Nepal.

Now, she has been nominated for CNN Heroes Award 2012 for her effort and contribution and I would like everyone who is reading this post to click the following link and vote for her. Your two minutes can give shelter, hope and smile to thousands of children in need.

http://heroes.cnn.com/

Please help her win.

 

 

8 Comments

Posted in Nepal, Social Issue