Nepali food is a mixture of Tibetan and north Indian cuisines. Most Nepalis eat two meals a day, usually consisting of a curried vegetable with a carbohydrate that is either rice or bread, or a mashed grain.
Food is different depending on what can be grown locally – in the mid-hills and flat valley of the Tarai most people eat rice because the climate is warm and wet. People in the mountains and those poorer people in the mid-hills eat either a flat bread or a mashed grain called dhedo.
The two most famous dishes in Nepal are dhal bhat, a dal soup and rice, usually with a vegetable curry, and momo which is a meat-filled dumpling served with a spicy dipping sauce and a spicy soup made from bones.
You can find our recipes for great dhal bhat, and momo here.
Nepalis rarely eat meat because it is so expensive. A kilogram of pork meat for example costs around $2, which is often much more than a family earns in a day.
Similarly, restaurants are virtually unknown in Nepal, except in richer cities where tourists visit. Snack shops are available everywhere there is a road or the chance that a traveller, Nepali or otherwise, may need nourishment.
