Day Eleven - Nepal

Today's culinary tour stop brings us to the land of the Himalayas.  Home to eight of the ten tallest mountains in the world, Nepal sits at the very top of the world.  In preparing for this blog, I pictured Nepal only in terms of it's mountains, and rightly so.  Even if you have only seen images from National Geographic, it's hard not to think that the entire country is covered by snowy crags that scratch the sky. What then, you might ask, does one eat at 29,029 feet above sea level?  I knew that it couldn't only be a bunch of Cliff Bars, trail mix, and oxygen canisters, so I did a little bit more digging.

It turns out that the geography of Nepal is extremely varied.  While yes, much of it's northern region is dominated by land forms that tower miles in the air, most of the southern regions that border India are actual quite tropical.  Lucky for me, with this diversity of environment came an equally diverse food heritage.

Nepalese Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cups dried lentils

6 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 potato, diced

2 teaspoons coriander

3 cups canned tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin

To start, I poured the lentils into the water and set it to boil for about 20 minutes.  While this was going on, I heated up the oil in a separate pan and sauteed the onion, garlic, and jalapeno for about 5 minutes.

Then, I added the coriander and cumin to the mix, and then sauteed the potatoes and carrot.  I kept this over medium heat for another 5 minutes, stirring to make sure nothing stuck.  I removed from the heat.

Once the lentils were soft, I opened two cans of whole tomatoes and chopped them up while still in the can.  I then poured them (undrained) into the pot with the lentils and stirred.

Finally, I added the sauteed vegetables and the cilantro.  I simmered this for another 15 minutes on medium heat.

Deconstructed Chicken Momo

3 chicken thighs, chopped

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped

1 cup tomatoes, finely chopped

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 tablespoons olive oil

Momo are traditional dumplings found in many parts of central Asia.  Nepal is no exception, and apparently, Nepalese momo are a staple for that mountainous country.  Unfortunately for me, the won ton wrappers I had from Hungary night had not done so well in the fridge since then.  I tried to use them for these dumplings, and they ripped and crumbled very quickly.

So, I improvised, and decided to serve the momo filling (which I had already made) on some of the naan from India night (since Nepal borders India, I thought this was at least in the ballpark).

To make the momo filling, I first added the chopped chicken thighs, onion, green onion, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, tumeric, and curry powder (yes, all of the ingredients), into a bowl and mixed it all together.  I then let it set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

I then took the mixture out and sauteed it in the olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium heat, making sure the chicken was done.  I then heated up the leftover naan in the oven and served.

The result...

...was incredibly flavorful and not at all what I was expecting out of Nepal.  I honestly don't know what I was expecting out of Nepal...some sort of mountain goat that was deprived of oxygen?

The soup was hearty and filling, and the mix of different spices and flavors all melded together very well.  I'm willing to bet that it will be even better after a few days pass and it's given more time to set.  The chicken was an even bigger surprise (Elizabeth dubbed it a "winner").  I'm sure it would have been a great dumpling filling, but on it's own it was killer.

Tonight was a great stop also because Elliot got to join in (he's really liking sweet potatoes and apple sauce now).  Maybe one day he and I will get the chance to visit the roof of the world.  For now, we'll have to be content with enjoying it's food.