Tag Archives: nepali food

C Momo

Posted on October 6, 2013 | 31 comments

If you have ever met someone from Nepal, you must already know by now that Nepali people are crazy about momo. There are many varieties of momo and a simple recipe for one of them is posted here.

Today I am posting the recipe for C momo, C stands for chill so it is a hot and spicy momo recipe.

Ingredients

  • 20 pieces of steamed Momo (for recipe check here)
  • 2 tomatoes cut into quarters
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic and ginger paste
  • 3 green chilies halved
  • 1 small red onion cut into quarters and with layers separated
  • 1 red capsicum cut into inch square shape
  • 3 tablespoons Oil
  • 5 tablespoons of ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons of chilli sauce/ hot and sweet sauce (more if you like hot)
  • 1 tablespoon  Chili paste/ half tablespoon chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 5 tablespoons soy sauce
  • Coriander to garnish

C momo (2)

Steps

  • Preheat the oven to 200 0C and bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked and skin starts peeling off.
  • In a pan, heat a spoon of oil and brown the momo. (optional)

C momo (3)

  • Take the momo out from the pan and put aside.
  • In the same pan, add remaining oil and fry crushed garlic and ginger paste.
  • Now add the baked tomatoes and cooked it until it is a smooth paste. If the sauce starts drying, add a small quantity of water.

C momo (4)

  • Now add green chill, onion, capsicum, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
  • Add ketchup, chill/hot and sour sauce, soya sauce and cook on low heat for few minutes. If the sauce starts to dry, add small quantity of water. Make sure the sauce is not very runny.

C momo (5)

  • Taste the sauce and add salt as requires. Soya sauce makes it pretty salty so watch the amount of salt you add.
  • Add momo to the sauce and stir and close the lid of the pan for 2 minutes allowing momo to heat.

C momo (6)

  • Transfer the momo to a plate and garnish with fresh coriander

C momo (1)

  • Tasty hot and spicy C momo is ready. Enjoy!

You may also like :

*Aloo chop *Chatamari *Gundruk Aloo Bhatmas Curry

31 Comments

Posted in Foodie, Nepal, Nepali food, Recipe

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Update from Nepal Part 3

Posted on January 20, 2013 | 10 comments

Skinny and photogenic

90% of the people I meet in Nepal told me that I am too skinny and I need to put on some weight. I am not underweight so I am happy with it and as you all know I try very hard with exercise and healthy food to maintain my figure but most people in Nepal have their own ideas about my weight.

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In the beginning I used to get annoyed about it but now I am so used to it that I ignored all these comments with a smile :). Also if you look around Kathmandu, most gals are either similar weight like mine or even skinnier than me so I have no idea why they think I need to put on weight. I have a feeling being married is one of the factor.

Anyway I am learning to just ignore and concentrate in good eating habit no matter what people say. Also AS is on my side telling me I am OK and we just need to concentrate on being healthy. I am very happy to have such a wonderful hubby who understands me so well. But I think he has an ulterior motive as well. He doesn’t want me gaining weight and buying more clothes as I won’t fit into my current ones then 🙂

Most of the people especially from AS’s side has seen me only during the wedding. That time I was a bride so I was fully made up in the traditional attire. After the wedding, lot of his relatives added me on their Facebook. So that is the only way they have seen me in causal dresses.

Anyway, I have heard from lot of his relatives that I am photogenic. I am not sure I should take that as a compliment or not. I am just wondering because, normally I think photogenic means I look good on photo but at the back of mind I was wondering, does that mean I don’t look good in person.

Anyway I got that comment from many people so just sharing what’s on my mind here 🙂

Maghe Sankranti

According to Nepali calendar, it was Maghe Sankranti (1st of Magh) a few days ago.  Please click here to read more about this festival.

As I am married now, I was invited to AS’s grandparents house to celebrate the festival with my in-laws. AS missed the occasion but I was glad I was there as I got to meet all his relatives again.

As I mentioned in my post, this day we eat laddoos (sesame seeds candy ball), chaku (molasses), ghee (clarified butter), sweet potatoes, yam, khichari (mixture of rice and lentils), ginger and salt  and green leaf spinach. So a big feast was ready in the house when we got there.DSC04802DSC04800DSC04799

First his grandma put mustard oil on our head and blessed us then we all enjoyed the food. It was fun catching up with my new family.

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After a few days of Magh 1, AS’s Mama (Mum’s brother) also invited us for Maghe Sankranti. In Newari culture normally, daughter’s family invites SIL, daughter and their kids after the festival as nakhatya (festival invitation in newari) to celebrate the festival.

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I got to meet more family members in this function as well. As you must have guessed,there was a feast prepared which included laddoos, chaku (molasses), ghee (clarified butter), sweet potatoes, yam, khichari, green leaf spinach and many more  dishes. .

Ma fussy chu ( I am fussy)

Sometime words have two different meaning in different languages and I got caught into that recently.

The other day I was in a departmental store trying on few make-up items. The sales gal was doing her job well convincing me to buy something so in reply I said, “ Ma fussy chu ( I am fussy), so let me think about it.” But she understood completely different thing.

Fussy (pronounced Fashi ) means con in a gentle way in Nepali language. So she thought I was telling her that she tried to con me into buying something else. For a minute I didn’t understand her reply as it was out of context when she said, “Don’t worry I am telling you the truth” but after a while I understood that she thought I thought she was conning me into buying something different.

Now I think before I say something as it might have a different meaning here.

Pasni Party

While AS was here we were invited to a Pasni of one of our friends’ kid along with my parents. They live in Sydney near us but they came here to host the function like my brother. It was nice to go to this function and enjoy Nepali way of socialising. I met a few friends and relatives in this function because in Nepal, somehow everyone seems to be related. 🙂

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Wedding party experience

I am writing this as my own experience and have no intention to disrespect any caste.

As I have told you in my post here, Nepal is a country of four castes and thirty six sub castes which means all of these castes have their own tradition and rituals.

I am from Newar caste and in our culture wedding parties goes till late at night. It is common to see Newari party starting around 6 pm and finish at 12 midnight but other castes like chhetri or bhaunu may have wedding parties that start in the afternoon and finish a bit early like 6-7pm.

One of my friends (a chherti by caste)  had invited me for his sister’s wedding. He asked me if I needed a physical invitation card but I said it’s OK as I didn’t want to bother him. So I went to the party hall where he had told me in that day with one of my cousins.

When we reach the hall, the hall was almost empty so I thought either I mix up the day or the venue. But as I entered, I saw my friend. It was 7 pm at most but there were only a few people left there. Even the bride and groom had left as they had to travel few hours to reach their home.

He informed us that the party was almost over. I was a bit embarrassed because I didn’t know what to say. I had tried to contact him earlier to find out the details but he was unavailable as he was flying in from the US the same day. Even my mum had reminded me to check the time but I just assumed that it would be same as ours but I was so mistaken.

I was happy to meet my friends after a while but it was a bit embarrassing situation and for the first time in my life I reached a party when it was almost over.

Latest update

I am having a great time with my parents. I am spending lots of time with them talking and having a great time. We have been to many temples around Kathmandu which I will post details of later. I am really glad that I extended my 2 weeks holiday to spend with them as they are very happy to have me here and I am very happy to be here.

I still miss AS a lot but I will be seeing him soon. We talk on the phone or Skype everyday so I am happy to be in Kathmandu in my birth home.

Take care everyone till my next post.

10 Comments

Posted in Family, Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepal 2012 / 2013, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals, Nepali food, Newari Culture, Newari Food

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Update from Nepal Part 2

Posted on January 13, 2013 | 12 comments

Meeting AS’s uncles and aunts

As I mentioned before, we had very little time after our wedding and so could not visit AS’s relatives; so during this trip we were invited for lunch or dinner at our relatives’ places.

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One of the evenings we were invited to AS’s dad’s brother’s place and another day, at AS’s mom’s brother’s place.

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Both the visit was fun and I got to spend some time with his relatives and of course it ended with a big feast of Nepali food. I am sure we both have put on lots of kilos on but as AS suggested we gonna ignore it while we are in Nepal as we can’t do anything about it. Everyone here thinks I am too skinny and it is their duty to fatten me up as much as possible.

We had yomari in one house which was filled with chaku (molasses) and other one with khuwa.

Lunch at my aunt’s place

One of the days, my aunt (dad’s sister) invited us along with my brother and SIL for lunch. It was fun as I got to meet my cousin’s baby again along with my other aunt and uncle as well.

dinner invitation (1)

We had jeri-swari as starter and it too ended with a big feast of Nepali dishes like goat curry, tofu curry, many vegetables, sukuti sandeko as well as laspsi ko achar.

dinner invitation (4)

Meeting AS’s niece

As I have been telling you that there are babies everywhere around me and one of the AS’s cousin’s also had a baby girl recently.

She is really cute with hazel coloured eye. It was nice to spend some time with her too.

AS niece

As my cousin, his cousin has also put on lots of weight post baby as she has to eat rice with ghee, chaku (molasses) four times a day.  Also they have someone coming to give oil massage to her and the baby in the sun every day.

Family get together

Long before we landed in Kathmandu, my MIL had decided to invite all the family (AS’s father’s side) for lunch at our place so finally we managed to pick a day where everyone was free. Family events are a bit of a pressure for a DIL as every action will be closely watched so I was a bit stressed but AS assured me that everything will go well and it did at the end.

The day before the event, my FIL and MIL did all the shopping and I and my MIL along with the helps started to prepare for the next day. There were lot to do as there was going to be 40+ people coming for lunch.

food

The morning of the get together, me and MIL were in the kitchen early and dishes like chana ko tarkari (Chickpea curry), cauliflower curry, goat curry, fish fried, mushroom curry, Saag (green leaves) along with dal (lentil), bhaat (rice) was ready before 11am. Also we had three different types of pickles ready to be served which were laspsi ko achar, mula (radish) ko achar and tomato achar.

By the time, the first guest arrived; all of us at home were ready to mingle. Everyone including AS’s grandparents came and the house was filled with buzzing noise in every room. Once everyone was settled then, we served lunch in batches.

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family gettogether (2)

After lunch everyone sat and talk until it was tea time and we served tea, cookies and pan fried tarul (yam).

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After a while everyone left, one by one. It was a nice afternoon with my new family.

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My brother leaving for Sydney

Almost 10 days ago, my brothers along with my SIL and nephew have left for Sydney. It was a very sad moment for my parents as they were so attached to their adorable grandson.

my brother leaving (1)

It is a custom in Nepal to put tika as blessings before anyone leaves home. So my mum prepared and put tika and sagun in the morning.

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my brother leaving (4)

On the way out, my brother and SIL put coins on the pitcher on either side of the door. It is believed to bring good luck during the journey.

my brother leaving

At the airport, my mum couldn’t help it and she cried. It was really sad to see her so sad. I am hoping they will visit us in Oz soon.

Visit to Pokhara

I went on a road trip to one of the beautiful cities of Nepal, Pokhara, with AS and his parents. We had a great time there and I will sure post the details soon. For now I am sharing some amazing photos from there.

Pokhara (1)pokhara Pokhara (8) Pokhara (5) Pokhara (4) Pokhara (3) Pokhara (2)

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Pokhara (7)

AS leaving for Sydney

As I mentioned before, I have extended my holiday by 2 weeks but AS has no holiday left. So he left for Sydney 2 days ago.

AS leaving (2)

On the day of his flight, like my mum, my MIL gave tika and sagun to him. On the way out, he put coins on the pitcher on either side of the door.

AS leaving (3)

Time went too quick at the airport and before I knew it he was on the plane to Oz and I was there with my in-laws and dad coming back home.

AS leaving (1)

I was happy to stay in Kathmandu but without him I am kind of lost these days. I am so attached with him that I feel lonely among millions of people here.

One of the reasons I extended my holiday was to spend these two weeks with my family as the last 4 weeks I was staying at my new home with AS so I couldn’t spend a lot of time with my mum and dad. So now I am at my parents’ home with them. I am really happy about it and we have already spent lots of quality time together but at the same time in some corner of my heart, I wished AS was with me here.

He has already reached Sydney safely and I will be seeing him in 16 days.

Till my next post, take care everyone.

12 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepal 2012 / 2013

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Aloo dum (Nepali potatoes curry)

Posted on November 22, 2012 | 23 comments

Aloo dum is a very popular dish in Nepal. My mum used to cook it almost every day when we were little as both me and my brother were very spoiled and didn’t eat most of the other veggies except potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed ginger and garlic
  • 2 tomatoes diced
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin seed
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 2 tablespoons of unflavoured yogurt
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoon of oil

Steps

  • Boil potatoes and cut into cubes.
  • Heat oil in a wok.

  • When oil is hot, add cumin seeds and let it fry for a few seconds.

  • Add onion in the wok and fry till they are brown.

  • Add diced tomatoes and turmeric powder and fry some more.

  • When the paste starts giving out oil that mean it is cooked so add the boiled potatoes to the wok.

  • Just toss potatoes around and add salt, cumin, chilli, coriander powder and a half cup of water and let it boil.

  • Now add the unflavoured yogurt and mix it well.

  • Take the curry out of heat and serve with rice or roti.

You may also like :

*Momo *Aloo ko achar *Chicken chili

23 Comments

Posted in Nepali food, Recipe

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How to make Chicken chili – Nepali Style

Posted on November 4, 2012 | 48 comments

This used to be one of my favourite entrée served in Nepali wedding parties back in the day when I was a kid. I still love them and I learned this from my BIL, my cousin K didi’s husband. It is simple, quick and yummy.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breast, boneless
  • 1 Spanish Onion
  • 1 large capsicum
  • 4 Green chilli
  • 2 big tomatoes
  • 1 table-spoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 table-spoon turmeric powder
  • 1 table-spoon cumin seed
  • 3 table-spoon Tomato ketchup
  • 2 table-spoon plain flour
  • 1 table-spoon ginger garlic paste
  • Few stems of green shallot chopped
  • 1 small bunch of fresh chopped coriander
  • 2 cloves of fresh garlic crushed
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger crushed
  • 1 egg
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil to fry

Steps

  • Cut the onion into quarters and take off each skin one by one.

  • Cut capsicum and tomatoes around 1 inch square in size.

  • Cut the chicken breast around 1 inch square in size.

  • Cut the green chili into 2 pieces length wise,
  • Put chicken breast in a big bowl and mix well with cumin, chilli, turmeric powder, salt and ginger garlic paste.

  • Then add plain flour and egg and mix it. Make sure to coat all the chicken pieces well.

  • Heat oil in a pan.

  • Fry the marinated chicken cubes in the oil.

  • Once it turns golden brown, take it out from the heat and put aside.

  • In a wok heat 2 tablespoon of oil and add sliced green chilli, cumin seed, crushed ginger and  garlic and fry for about a minute.

  • Add tomato ketchup in the wok and let it cook for a few minutes.

  • Add fried chicken and mix it well with the sauce.

  • Now add Spanish onion, tomatoes and capsicum.

  • Give it a quick toss we don’t want the onion to cook.

  • Add green shallot and coriander and give it a quick toss and take it off the heat.

  • Serve it as an entrée or with rice.

You may also like :

* *Goat curry *Momo

48 Comments

Posted in Nepali food, Recipe

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