Nepali Cuisine

The everyday meal is dal bhat: rice, lentil soup, a vegetable curry, pickle and sometimes meat, eaten twice a day by most of the country and refilled until you stop. Beyond it the food divides by community rather than by region alone. Newar cooking in the Kathmandu valley is the most elaborate, built around buffalo, with bara lentil cakes, chatamari, spiced offal dishes, beaten rice and the samay baji platter served at festivals. Thakali food from the Kali Gandaki is the version most trekkers rate highest, with a sharper, cleaner dal bhat. Higher up the influence turns Tibetan, with thukpa, tsampa and momos, the steamed dumplings that have become the national snack. Sel roti, a ring of fried rice batter, appears at festivals.

What you actually see

• Dal bhat - the refillable rice, lentil and curry plate.
• Momos - the steamed or fried dumplings sold everywhere.
• Newar dishes - bara, chatamari and the samay baji platter.
• Thakali sets - the Kali Gandaki version of dal bhat.

When to go

Year round. Festival food appears at Dashain and Tihar in autumn, when sel roti and meat dishes are made in quantity. Newar feast food is easiest to find in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.

Honest expectations

Trekking-lodge menus are repetitive and often poor away from Thakali kitchens. Buffalo is common in Newar food and beef is not eaten by most Hindus. Hygiene standards vary widely; stomach trouble is a common experience for visitors. Vegetarian eating is straightforward.

Nearby

Kathmandu and Patan for Newar food; the Kali Gandaki for Thakali.