Nepali Home Cooking for Healthy Living

Copyright © 2014 by

Sharada Jnawali and Cibeleh Da Mata. 504456

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014912507

ISBN:

Softcover 978-1-4931-3538-7

Hardcover 978-1-4931-3539-4

EBook 978-1-4931-3540-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 07/16/2014

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About the Book

This book is an attempt to present selected Nepali traditional vegetarian cooking accompanied by health-related information and the wide use and respect for medicinal spices and herbs in the kitchen. The book also shows that local foods are deeply intertwined with culture, religion, and traditional values while providing us with a balanced diet and practices of health maintenance and well-being. It also presents some ideas on how added variety, combinations, and improvisation can add value and give healthy results.

Nepal, a tiny South Asian country by any geographic standard, stretches from the lowlands of the subtropical Terai plains in the south to the highlands of the Himalayas, combining Nepali culture with different traditions and festivals rooted in all corners of the country. Such diversity has provided an ample space for the growth of multiple Nepali cuisines that demonstrate a way of life, associating food with religion and culture and representing multiple castes, ethnicities, eating patterns, festivals, geographic and seasonal contexts, and special occasions. Each festival of respective communities is associated with eating and feeding rituals. In general, Nepali cooking is also influenced by Tibetan or Indian styles, either by using varieties of spices, stir-frying, boiling, or steaming. With specific reference, many Nepali dishes are derived from a mixture of great culinary traditions of the indigenous Newari culture of the Kathmandu valley, Brahmin/Chhetri practices in the hilly region, the famous Thakali cooking of the high mountain of the western region, Sherpa and Rai Limbus of high altitude, and Madhesi cultures of the southern plain. Thus food diversity has also been one of the mediums in terms of building links between ethnic groups and respective social institutions and cultures.

As a whole, the Nepali vegetarian preparations demonstrate a great balanced diet in the form of carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, and minerals from the sources of grain, legumes, vegetables, fruits, and dairy. Use of specific pots and pans (e.g. iron wok, copper saucepan, brass pots, and wooden utensils for making particular dishes) also makes the Nepali traditional foods special. Rice, roti, vegetables, green leafy vegetables, milk, yogurt, achar, and chatani make up the typical Nepali vegetarian meals, which are delicious and full of nutritional values. Buttermilk is a common beverage in most hilly areas whereas rice pudding is saved as a special sweet dish. Staples depend on the geographic regions, accessibility, affordability, and traditional practices, such as rice and wheat in Terai belt; corn, millet, and barely in hilly areas; and potato, oat, and buckwheat in high mountains. Because of the food scarcity prevailing in the remote areas, foods are preserved by drying or fermenting vegetables and beans. Selected classical preparations of the preserved foods are measeura, titaura, gundruk, tama, and kinima, among others. Almost all types of vegetables are dried or pickled. Preparation of tea also vary on location, traditional practices, and weather conditions by using milk, butter, salt, ginger, cardamom, lemon, or black pepper.

Nepali vegetarian foods are simple and subtle in flavour. Nepali cooking teaches use of everyday spices and herbs that are valued as supplementary measures to preventive health and for improved quality of food and enhanced tastes. Specific spices are used in individual recipe to balance hot and cold and to neutralize acid and alkaline. Use of spices also differs depending on geographic location, weather conditions, the eating habits of a particular ethnicity, users’ knowledge, nutritional awareness, traditional beliefs, and availability of resources. At times, the spiciness or mildness also vary from occasion to occasion (e.g. the same food cooked during festivals or in death rituals vary in amount of spices used or combinations). Commonly used spices are garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, coriander, asafoetida, black pepper, chilli, onions, coriander, mint, ajwon, fenugreek, anise, mustard seeds, etc. Distinct Himalayan herbs in the form of unique spices as timboor and jimbu are crucial parts of the Nepali kitchen. In addition, most dishes are flavoured with mustard oil, ghee, or yak butter depending on traditional practices.

Acknowledgement

Having heard about the vegetarian cooking and use of herbs and spices in Nepali cooking, a Brazilian citizen, Cibeleh Da Mata, came to learn Nepali cooking with me in early 2011. We spent about five months together, cooking at least five recipes every day and taking pictures of all preparations. Cibeleh, an Ayurvedic practitioner from Brazil, was impressed to see how many types of vegetarian dishes can be prepared with a single ingredient and how each dish respects the Ayurvedic values by using herbs and spices with consideration of health benefits. Major ingredients used were rice, wheat, corn, millet, barley, buckwheat, potato, vegetables, dairy products, and root vegetables. Both sweet and salty preparations were cooked from these ingredients. Most items prepared were very common, easy, and practical for everyday use. I would like to thank Cibeleh for her company and inspiration to document this experience.

By coincidence, we also had visitors from abroad during this season, who tasted our products and provided valuable comments and suggestions. We had Fabio and Isabela from Brazil; Trish, Bill, David, Renae, Darlene, Denial, Kieth, Marji, Olivia, Tina, Trish, Mary, and Ted from the US; Irina from Russia; George from Portugal; Mariano, Janine, and David from Spain; and Denyse and Gilbert from Switzerland. We are thankful to everyone for their enjoyment and appreciation of the foods. At the end of five months, we thought of documenting the experience in this book for sharing with vegetarian food lovers. Cibeleh has already started conducting food awareness workshops on these recipes with youths in Brazil to promote healthy eating.

Cibeleh does not speak Nepali or English, and I do not know Portuguese. Most of the time we used hand gestures and sign language in the kitchen. I felt bad not being able to explain everything properly, and Cibeleh would be disappointed, not able to pose her questions in a way I could really understand. We would often use either Internet facility or dictionary to have our questions explained. However, there was one thing common between us: familiarity with many herbs and spices. Similar to Nepalis, Brazilians are one of the intense users of ethnomedicines. In the end, we also realized that food can be a cultural bond between people and countries. Now more Brazilians are interested in visiting Nepal and trying such foods, which we take as an important strategy of cultural exchange between the countries.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr Navin Bastola from the Dhanawantari Ayurvedic Hospital in Kathmandu for providing reference materials and views on food combinations and usage of spices from the Ayurvedic perspectives. I am equally thankful to Dr Shivahari Khatiwada for his valuable guidance and sharing of reference materials on the subject. I am thankful to Dr Sushil Koirala for his valued inspiration and useful reference materials to produce the book. I am equally thankful to my husband, parents, and sisters for their advice, support, and encouragement throughout this process. I am especially grateful to my mother for transferring her cooking skills to me. Cibeleh did most of the photography, and my daughter Eva equally deserves thanks for her contributions to photo taking, layout, and formatting of the document.

I am grateful to the litterateur Satya Mohan Joshi for his valued time he shared with me to discuss the significance of specific foods associated with respective cultures and traditions. I am happy to document Mr Joshi’s rich knowledge and experiences on this matter. In addition to interviews, I conducted online research on use of spices and herbs, including values of certain food materials in terms of its nutritional and health benefits. I am thankful to JIVA health/India for responding to my queries during my research period. I would like to thank Mr Alden Towler for his time in reviewing the text of this document, editing, providing me with useful suggestions, and sharing his research findings in Nepal. I am grateful to Ms Darlene Foote for her untiring effort in editing this text.

Contents

About the Book

Acknowledgement

Introduction

SECTION ONE

RECIPES

Rice Recipes

Wheat Recipes

Jau (Barley) Recipes

Corn Recipes

Kodo (Millet) Recipes

Phapar (Buckwheat) Recipes

Cheura Recipes

Lentil Recipes

Bean Recipes

Soybean

Common Vegetables Recipes

Leafy Vegetables Recipes

Root Vegetables Recipes

Soup Recipes

Milk Recipes

Yogurt Recipes

Achar Recipes

Fresh Chatanis (Dips, Souce or Dressings)

Beverages

SECTION TWO

KITCHEN SPICES AND HERBS: MEDICINAL VALUES AND USE

SECTION THREE

FOODS AND SPICES COMBINATION TIPS

ANNEXES

Eating for Beauty and Fitness

Wear What You Eat For

Forty Useful Kitchen Tips

Reference

Nepali

Home Cooking

of

Healthy

Living

Sharada Jnawali

Cibeleh Da Mata

Introduction

In my primary job as a development worker with thirty years of experience, I strongly feel the need to promote traditional foods with the purpose of ensuring food security and improving nutritional status, balance, and well-being. Appropriate use of local foods, spices, and herbs can play an especially important role in health management. In this book you will find food preparations that serve my goal of creating a balanced diet, whose nutritional value, quality, and flavour are enhanced by the right combinations of spices and herbs. I hope the book will also serve the same purpose for its users.

The growth of urbanization, changes in lifestyle, increased purchasing power, and globalization have significant impacts in the Nepali eating practices. Cultural context is also a major contributing factor. Our ancestors recognized the values of good food and spices but limited their use to festivals and rituals as offering to nature. For example, the barley flour balls (pinda) combined with black sesame seeds are offered to the souls of the dead Black sesame seeds are also used in pujas.¹ Rice is a symbol of prosperity. Rice and yogurt are widely used in preparing tika,² an adornment used in several cultural occasions. Given the fact that tulsi basil is an important part of herbal medicine in our daily life, it is protected in a sacred place usually in the front yard and watered every day. Variety of fruits are served in all rituals and pujas and eaten mostly during fasting days. Karkalo or taro root is eaten only once a year during Panchami festival. Yam and sweet potatoes are also cooked during tulsi wedding in Ekadashi. Eating brown rice in festivals or fasting is considered a good practice. Availability of various spices and herbs and their use is universal across Nepali cultures. Eating fresh, offering hot food, and serving with respect are common values in all communities in Nepal.

Many healthy foods, herbs, and spices are easily and naturally accessible to us, but we fail to adapt our eating habits by either neglecting to make the seasonal adjustments or ignoring the fact that such foods provide tremendous benefits to our health and well-being. Transitioning diet with seasonal changes is one of the most fun parts of Nepali cooking. There are plenty of opportunities for keeping ourselves warm or cool in winter or summer through the medium of food, but the matter of keeping up the right timing is always a balancing act.

Some of the drawbacks in providing equitable distribution of adequate nutrition in Nepal include certain communities’ remoteness, lack of knowledge on balanced diet and nutrition, lack of adequate skills in preparing foods from local resource, prejudices against certain foods, food fads, and lack of initiatives in promoting local products. There is also a tendency that people perceive cooking either as a giant, cumbersome activity or as something that you are forced to do every day. Cooking can in fact be easy and fun, a great exercise to improve your knowledge and skill in the kitchen. And remember, cooking with love and passion adds great value to the food’s quality.

SECTION ONE

Recipes

Rice Recipes

Plain Rice

Ingredients

• Rice: 1 cup

• Water: 2 cups

Process

1. Clean and rinse rice.

2. Soak for about 1 hour in water.

3. Cook until boiled for 2 minutes.

4. Simmer and cook for 10 minutes, covering with lid.

5. Let it stay for 2 minutes to settle extra steam.

6. Serve with daal, vegetable, achar or chatani, dahi or moi (ref page 83).

Rice provides instant energy to our body and is digested easily. The fuel provided by rice is used in physical activity and brain and body functions; 160 g of cooked white rice provides about 10% of the daily energy need, 2.4 g of dietary fibre, and 85% of the carbohydrates needed in a day. In addition, rice supplies some protein and eight of the thirteen amino which build muscles. Rice bran contains the most beneficial bran oil, which is retained by 100% in brown rice than white. The level of benefits depend on whether it is milled or unmilled³ when using brown rice rather than the white polished variety for everyday consumption. Brown