Food in Nepal

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم...

I should write something on the two countries I visited, Makkah (Saudi Arabia) on February to perform the Umra for two nights and Kathmandu (Nepal) following my husband for a 30 hours work trip, arriving back to Bahrain yesterday :D, I would post pictures on these two in my English blog. Here though..I can mention something on food...:). I am careful about what I eat outside, as I have been so unlucky suffering from food poisoning many many times, from different food I had from restaurants I thought were clean and careful about what they serve. 

In Saudi Arabia, we had food at the hotel we stayed in. Loads of salads, breads, and of course rice. 

In Kathmandu on the other hand, I was shocked at how unclean the city was. I couldn't have anything outside the hotel. We had a wonderful dinner at the hotel, but for me it was too spicy to handle. So I asked the chief for the recipe, which he kindly shared with me, and I will attempt making the dishes. Of course with less chilly.

a crispy spicy bread (can't remember its name) dipped in achar (a spicy hot pickle) which were in different varieties

lamb cooked with herbs, wonderful

spicy dark lentil (dal), I loved it




A beautiful tradition that we in Oman have as well, a bowl of water that you are given to wash your hands in before and after food. The beautiful thing here it has a piece of lime, which leave your hands smelling fresh :)
 

We had a yogurt-based drink known as lassi, you can have it sweet or salty. I loved it. 


street food in Kathmandu

Chicken Biryani

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Rice is a main meal in the Middle East, we usually have it for lunch. I have never posted any recipes yet because I usually make white rice, with other side dishes. However I thought of posting one of the methods of making chicken biryani, It is quite simple. I guess every household does it a bit differently, I change it sometimes as well and this is one of the ways.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken (marinade: 5 garlic gloves mashed, 1 tbs ginger mashed, red pepper (or black), salt)

2 cups of basmati rice, washed and soaked for at least one hour

2 garlic gloves mashed

1 tbs ginger mashed

2 medium sized potatoes cut into cubes

2 medium sized tomatoes, diced into small pieces

2 medium sized onion diced

1 tsp cinammon powder

1 tsp cardamom powder (plus seeds, optional)

1/2 tsp cumin powder (plus seeds, optional)

1-2 tbs tomato puree

few coriander leaves, chopped

one small onion for garnishing 

3 cups boiled water

3 tbs oil

deep oil fry for chicken and potatoes

pepper i use

• Marinate your chicken, fry the potatoes in deep oil till golden, remove from heat and fry chicken till fully cooked- set aside

fried chicken and potatoes

• In a deep pan (low heat), add the 3 tbs oil, add onion, fry till soft and add garlic and ginger, fry for few minutes

• Add your spices, cinammon, cardamom, cumin, salt, pepper/chilli and cook for few minutes
• Add the diced tomatoes, and tomato puree, if it seems a bit dry add around 1/4 glass of water and cover for 5-10 minutes

• add the coriander leaves, chicken and potatoes, cover for a couple of minutes

• add boiled water (around three to four cups)
• Add the rice, increase heat but watch continuously so it won't get burnt (you might need to add more water), cook uncovered in moderate to high heat till water is almost dry

• Now decrease heat to the lowest, cover the rice and cook for around 10 minutes
• A tip: if you feel you can't control the water/cooking time, you can cook the rice separately. Boil it in salted water till cooked, sieve and add it to the tomato/chicken sauce and cover in low heat for 10 minutes. 
• Garnish with fried onions.