Had a Religious Studies party tonight, and tried to cook Nepali food - 
using ingredients I picked up in Kathmandu, or at least recipes from a cookbook I got there. (In fact, most of the pouches of dry goods I picked up at the Namaste Supermarket remain unrecognizable, despite Googling. What is Lapsy Powder? Five Forom? Siltimur? Are they even edible?) I made dal baat: rice, a buttery ginger turmeric dal, and cauliflower and potatoes in a fenugreek seed, cumin, coriander, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili and tomato sauce. (On the side I managed to bake Graubrot too!) I made way too much: here below are the leftovers - after feeding 12!
A propos spices and Nepal, this is interesting (from here):
A 1984 Japanese study entitled The Study of Spices in Nepal has something intriguing to report under the heading: ‘Utilizations of spices by the Nepalese tribe people’:
* The Chhetri people usually use methi, besar, jeera, jwano, tejpat, lahsun, aduwa, khursani and rayo.
* The Newars use methi, besar, jeera, dhaniya, jwano, lahsun, aduwa, khursani, Nepali sunp, and tejpat.
* The Tamangs use methi, besar, jeera, dhaniya, jwano, lahsun, aduwa, and khursani.
* The Sherpas use lahsun, aduwa, khrusani, dhaniya, jeera, and methi, and also the wild spices ermarg, koma, and zimbu.
The study points out that while all Nepalese used the same kinds of spices; different castes and ethnic groups used them in different ways.
