Mata Nepali

Khaja Mitho Newari

Khana Mitho Thakali

Laideu Maya Yo Jyan Chha Khali.

The English translation of this song goes:

I am Nepali

I like delicious Newari snacks

I like meal of flavorful Thakali food

Give me love, this life is empty

I talked about the taste of food in this song about fifteen years ago. My attempt was to spread the taste of Newari snacks and Thakali cuisine through the song. Traveling around and tasting the food from Nepal’s far east to the far west is my passion. I am truly addicted to the dishes of different communities, including Tharu and Magar. Because of this hobby and addiction, I am quite knowledgeable about the addresses and specialties of hotels, from Kathmandu to the alleys along the East-West Highway. I have an equal interest in foreign food, as well as the flavors from Rampur, Palpa, my birthplace.

I grew up in the pluralistic society of Rampur. Since I had two mothers, there were also two homes. Although they weren’t very far apart, those two homes had some cultural differences. One was a village with only the Brahmin community, and the other was a community mixed with all castes and ethnic groups. There were also Chettri, Thakuri, Bishwakarma, Pariyar, and Muslims.

Growing up in a mixed society, I got the opportunity to taste the distinct flavors of various ethnic foods. This not only introduced me to different ethnic dishes but also made me someone who loves that kind of food. I am extremely fond of the traditional and ethnic specialty foods with indigenous flavors in Nepal.

Geography and nature have a significant influence on food. Where I grew up, there were forests and rivers nearby. From a young age, I used to go hunting with my friends. Sometimes I would kill a chitra (a type of civet) and sometimes a monitor lizard. It was then that I also learned about eating the meat of the monitor lizard—which is a little bigger than a regular lizard—and playing the khainjadi (a small hand drum) made from its skin. At that same age, I ate wasps, hornets, various species of fish, and even crabs in the village.

The hornet dish is also an amazing delicacy. We used to eat it even before, but nowadays, in Palpa, a trend has started where hornets are commercially available and hornet dishes are prepared.

While enjoying the flavors of various foods, I also learned the skill and art of cooking. I am crazy about local chicken meat and regularly cook and eat it even in Kathmandu. I enjoy cooking for friends when they come over. They praise it, and I am delighted. When guests come home, if my wife makes one item, I make the other myself. My wife didn’t know how to cook when we got married.

I knew my mother’s taste. I was eating the food cooked by both mothers. I had also learned a little of that taste and taught my wife that same method. Teaching her in that way, she became perfect. Her cooking is absolutely delicious. Other people’s cooking doesn’t taste as good; she makes it that awesome.

My professional singing career began around the years of 1998/1999 with the album Tansen Khaseuli. After songs like Sasurali Ma and Man Thiyena Jogi Banna Lai became popular, I got the opportunity to travel both nationally and internationally. The success I found in music provided me with the advantage of having a profession that involves traveling, which allows me to try new dishes and novel flavors of food. While traveling for musical programs, I have come to know which hotel and what kind of food is available in every corner of the country. If the food in a place tastes good once, I try to go back there again if it is on my route.

Stating that I know many places to eat, I’ll share a few examples.

Kasang Thakali Bhansaghar in Butwal, which falls on the way to Palpa, is the hotel I visit most often. Whether I am traveling from Nepalgunj or Tansen, I always go there to eat.

I have also eaten many times at the Saili Maili Didi’s Hotel in Pokhara. The food there was also delicious. I used to eat a lot, but nowadays I find the taste a little different.

I frequently go to Parbat, Dinguwa, to eat the local fish and local rice. The local rice there is extremely delicious. When going to Dang, just the memory of the Bodhiya (a type of dish) at a place called Sadgoriya on the highway makes my mouth water. “There is a hotel of a sister named Srijana Chaudhary. The Bodhiya there is so delicious; just forget about it. Even now, my mouth is watering just talking about it. It’s very, very, very tasty! I order seconds.”

When I reach the Far West, my first priority is Tharu food. I eat Jhikri and Ghongi (snails), and I tasted a mouse for the first time there. I equally love Thaunimara (a type of dish). The local chicken meat at the Diamond Hotel in Dhangadhi also makes me crazy for it. Up in Dadeldhura, Tal Kharka, I never miss eating the Kheer (rice pudding) made by the grandfather. However, during a recent visit to Baitadi, I felt that the taste had declined compared to before.

I am also tempted by the taste of the further-up regions. I am also an admirer of the food at Bishnu Dai Ko Hotel in Dunai, Dolpa. “If you go to Dolpa, the lentils there are flavorful. I brought it to Kathmandu and cooked it, but it didn’t taste the same as eating it there.”

When traveling east, I am drawn by the taste of Lama Ko Sekuwa in Tarahara, and I also find Purweli Pakku (dried meat dish from the Eastern region of Nepal) delicious.

On the way from Dhankuta Danda Bazaar to Hile, right after the end of the market, there is an eatery on the right side. The saag (greens) there is exceptionally tasty.

Just as I evaluate which dish is good at which hotel, I also evaluate which dish is delicious for which ethnic group. Nowadays, it feels like the Tharu community has the most delicious food in Nepal. Tharu food has a perfect balance, including many varieties like freshwater harvests such as crab and snails (ghongi), duck meat, chicken meat, fish, mouse pickle, dhukri (a type of bread), and partridge. I rank Tharu food as number one.

Nowadays, I have stopped eating buffalo meat, popularly known as “buff” in Kathmandu. Nevertheless, for those who do eat buff, I put Newari cuisine at number two. After that, the food of the Magar community is on my list. I find the taste of Magar food to be unique. The pork cooked by the Magar community, especially the black pig, is a bit different.

My experience is that there is a different taste even when that meat is cooked over a wood fire versus a gas stove. Similarly, I find the taste of spices ground on a silauto (grinding stone) and those ground in a machine to be different. Furthermore, I even analyze the distinction that the taste changes when eaten in a bowl versus on a leaf plate.

Another dish I like is Thakali cuisine. These days, it’s hard to find authentic Thakali food. But if I find genuine Thakali food, I absolutely love it. I remember eating a lot of food at the Thakali Bhansaghar in Pyukha, New Road, Kathmandu, at one point.

My love for food awakened at a young age. When my mothers went to the fields, the household chores, including cooking, would fall to me. My older mother would especially praise me and say, “Son makes very good roti,” when I rolled out thin, round, dry wheat bread. She would give me a lot of encouragement. She was the one who taught me to cook many things.

The social and cultural environment, much like the domestic one, further introduced me to the taste and specialty of food. As soon as you mention Palpa, dishes like Chukauni, Batuk, and Haas Ko Choila (spicy duck meat chilli salad) come to mind. Among them, the memory of Batuk makes me get lost in the memories of the Maghe Sankranti fair, where it was brought from home, made, and sold on a leaf plate. I feel that is a Magar community food.

In our village, Chipharni, Badiya, and Phulaura are also very much liked and eaten. During the summer season, Gurung (a dish made from raw mango) is eaten.

The raw mango that has just developed its kernel is cooked with sugar, yogurt, and other things, making it extremely tasty. The taste of Gurung also brings back fresh memories of my maternal uncle’s house. I occasionally make Chukauni at my home in Kathmandu, which has even started being found in hotels in Kathmandu nowadays. When brothers and sisters from the eastern side come home, and I need to serve them a new taste, I make Chukauni with great hospitality.

The buff-dried meat in Rampur is extremely pure. I never miss feeding that buff to my friends in Kathmandu. I keep looking for an excuse to visit Rampur now and then to taste such dishes. If I have work that takes me to Pokhara or Butwal, I end up going to Rampur. If I plan to go for two days, I end up staying for ten days. Recently, I went home for two days and only returned to Kathmandu after ten days. I put the local chicken meat of Rampur as my first choice. The local fish dishes found in the nearby Jyake Khola, Lukti Khola, and Khurunde Khola are my second choice.

Even when my feet are in the city, my heart is in the village; that’s why I travel the world singing and sharing the tunes of the village. Even after traveling the world, I have to return to the village to soothe my mind. If there is a place where I become happy and forget all my sorrows and pains, that place is Rampur.

Although I miss Nepali food when I travel abroad, being someone who loves traditional Nepali food, I like to taste the local cuisine of whatever country I visit. Among foreign foods, I really enjoy eating Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese food. Korean is my favorite after Nepali. However, I have not liked eating sweet things since childhood. And I particularly didn’t like Indian food.