Lai Kawaf (Daikon Radish with Goat curry)

This is one of classic and authentic curry dish that my mother used to make. It’s my all time absolute favourite curry dish. It’s a comfort food that goes very well with bowl of steam rice.

Normally we make it this curry with buffalo meat. Buffalo meat is the staple of newari cuisine. I love buffalo meat. It’s hard to get buff here so I substituted with goat meat.

I went to market last Saturday. I bought goat leg on skin. I love meat on bone and with skin. It is the best way to cook meat as it keeps meat moist, juicy and gives lots of texture. The slow cooked or braised meat on skin and bone is so good. The skin gets gelatinous and sticky and the marrow in the bone gives natural oilyness. I know here people don’t like their meat on bone and/or skin but you should try it, it’s just delicious. In Nepal, we chomp down every part of animal even offals. I have to admit that I love offal dish called Vutan. It’s definitely an acquired taste but if done right (like cleaning and poaching and frying) it’s so tasty. You can find these authentic dishes at local nepali restaurants.

I have to admit I love grocery shopping. It will sound crazy to you but when I see and buy all these great produce, I get excited with all these great ideas in my head of what I’m going to cook out of these produce. I go gaga for fresh herbs, green vegetables and I absolutely love tomato.

So when I bought this goat leg, I thought I will make a beautiful curry. Since it’s freezing here in Australia, this curry will warm your body and soul. The radish and potato soaks up the meatiness of goat and takes it to new height.

Here’s the recipe. Use pressure cooker to reduce cook time in half. If not, use thick based pot to slow cook for an hour.

Radish can be substituted with turnips or zucchini if you are not big fan of cooked radish.

Ingredients ( Serves 8)

1 kilo of meat (goat leg cut into chunky curry sized pieces)
1 onion
2 medium sized potatoes (cut into cubes)
1 regular sized daikon Radish (cut into cubes)
1 stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of garlic paste
1 tablespoon of ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala (I used BMC meat masala that mom sent from Nepal)
2 tablespoon of oil
Handful of chopped fresh coriander
Salt to taste

Put the cooker on heat and add oil. When oil is hot, sauté onion until golden brown. Add goat meat and fry to seal and brown the meat. Add potatoes and the spices, except for garam masala. Let the spice cook for few minutes. Add 500 ml of water or stock and cook it for 30 minutes until meat is tender. Add daikon radish and garam masala and cook it for another 10 minutes. It’s cooked when meat’s falling off the bone and the skin is sticky and gelatinous.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot with steamed rice.

Black Lentil patties topped with mince meat and egg (La woh)

This is one of the most authentic newari food at its best. Newari cuisine is epitome of culinary delights. The recipe are very authentic yet simple. The recipes are mostly based on fresh ingredients like buffalo meat, fresh vegetables, herbs, legumes and spices.
The recipe I’m about to share is one of the popular newari dish. If you are a vegetarian, you could make the lentils patties without meat and egg. Traditionally woh (lentil patties without meat and egg) are used for sagun. Sagun is basically a newari ritual where you bless a person who’s going to embark on a journey or for achievements, birthdays or any auspicious occasion. Sagun starts with puja (ritual involving putting vermillion and rice grains with flowers to pray to hindu god) of Ganesh ( hindu god) and then of the person who’s receiving a blessing. It’s followed by giving boiled and fried egg, dried whole fish ( kunya) , woh, yogurt and spirit called aila (homemade alcoholic drink made from rice or millet and look and taste like tequila).

There are few variations of this recipe you could try. You can alternatively use mung beans. Mung beans are healthier and full of nutrients and easy on stomach. You can also add chopped onion and coriander to lentil mix to add more flavour and texture.
With mince, instead of adding it as topping, it can be mixed through the mix.

I’m posting this authentic recipe inspired by a very famous local shop in Patan called Honacha. It’s a small local shop with a rooftop dining serving best of newari cuisine like lawoh, chhoila(grilled spicy buffalo- will share recipe in future post), piro aalo (spicy potato) and much more. It’s a family business which has been running for generations. It’s always packed with locals as it’s cheap and tasty. I quite like the rooftop dining as you can enjoy the view of Krishna mandir (temple) and durbar square and munch down all these delicacies. I miss the spicy, hot dishes so much that I try to recreate these recipe at home. I’m a food enthusiast and love discovering new recipes, cooking and eating it especially Nepali cuisine. As I previous mentioned my hubby is from different town. He has tried few newari dishes but he doesn’t know about these local jewels where you can get mind blowing food. I tell him about all these local places where you can get great food and I’ve promised him that I will take him to all these places when we go for a visit ( we haven’t been back to our place as a couple yet).

Let’s get started now.

Ingredients

250 grams of Black lentils ( you can get it from indian grocery shops. Get the ones where skin has already been removed, trust me so much easier if it’s skinless)
250 grams of mince ( buffalo if available, if not I use lamb mince)
Eggs (one for a patty)
2 tablespoons of fresh ginger paste
1 tablespoon of fresh garlic paste
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1/2 tablespoon chilli powder
Salt as per taste
Pinch of asafetida
Oil

Soak lentils overnight. Rub the lentils to take the skin off and wash it in the water. The skin will float on the top so drain it and repeat the process until all the skin is washed off.
I used the skinless lentils which I soaked for overnight and then washed it under the tap until the water runs clear.

Blend it with half a cup of water to make a fine paste.

Pour mix in a bowl. Add pinch of asafetida, salt, cumin and ginger paste and mix through.

In a separate bowl , put mince and add ginger paste, garlic paste, chilli, salt, cumin and some oil and mix through. The mince is ready.

Heat pan on low heat. Put a teaspoon of oil in the pan. Take a small amount of lentil and make a ball in your hands. Use some water while shaping it into small balls so it doesn’t stick in your hands. Gently put it in the pan and with wet spatula spread it thin about 2 cm thin. Top it of with thin layer of mince on lentil patty and egg. Cook on a on gentle heat for 2-3 minutes and then flip the patty. Cook it for few minutes and and it’s ready to be served.
It is used served with buffalo meat curry gravy to enhance the flavour but can be eaten as it is. Will share a goat curry recipe in later posts. Till then enjoy this delicacy.

Chula (Mince meat curry)

This is my all time favourite mince curry that can be prepared in hurry. I love curry called chula as it’s so tasty with rice and easy to make. It used to be my favourite dish when I was a kid. Whenever my mom had to impress me or pamper me, she would bring buffalo mince meat and make this beautiful curry. It never failed to please me after eating a thaal (plate) full of rice and chula.
In Kathmandu, buffalo is the main meat that people consume on daily basis. I’m an avid buff meat lover. You can make so many dishes of buff meat. However I’m here now so I can’t get my hands on buffalo meat easily.
I make this chula curry with chicken mince. I’ve tried with lamb but it turns out really fatty. I’m not much of pork lover so chicken is ideal for this recipe I’m about to share.
It takes 15 mins to prepare this dish. I do this curry when I’m too lazy to cook other protein as I can’t be bothered cutting it or I’m in hurry.

Here is the recipe:

Vegetable oil
5-8 fenugreek seeds
1 large onion
2 bay leaves
1 stick of cinnamon
500 gms chicken mince
1 tablespoon (tbspn) of garlic paste
1 tbspn of ginger paste
1 teaspoon (tspn) cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder
1/2 tspn chilli powder
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
1 tspn garam masala
Salt as per taste
1/4 of green peas
1 med size tomato
1/2 cup of water or chicken stock
1/4 cup of chopped coriander to garnish

Marinade chicken mince with half of garlic and ginger paste and a tspn of oil. Leave it on the side for 5-10 mins. It will tenderize the meat and retain the moisture.

In a pan, heat 2 tbspn of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, crack fenugreek seeds and cook it until it turns black. Add onion and fry until golden brown. Throw in cinnamon stick and bay leaves to infuse the onion. Add all the other spices and cook until it leaves the oil. Add chicken mix and mix well. Ensure the mince is mixed well so it doesn’t have any lumps. Cook it for 2-3 mins to make sure it’s not over cooked. Add 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock, tomato and peas and cook it for another 3 mins. Turn off the heat, garnish with coriander. Serve with steamed rice.

Momo

My very first post. Being a food lover, I was always going to start with food related topic.

Momo is one of the most loved, most eaten, most craved, most readily available and most known dish of Nepal. Everyone loves momo and cannot get enough of it. Especially on a rainy cold winter days of kathmandu ( my hometown), the hot momo with spicy achar (tomato sauce) is just divine.

The memories of walking past momo shops with a big stove and a steamer full of steaming hot momo in every nook and corner alleys of kathmandu is enough to make me drool. Those Rs.10 a plate for a dozen momo with soupy achars (famous jhol momo of Kathmandu) are one the best eats. You do have to pick these shops carefully. I always go for the known ones or busy ones as it ensures that the momos and mince meat are freshly prepared. As it’s so vigorously steamed, its quite hygienic, you just opt out of soupy achar.
My hubby is a foodie and momo lover. He can chow down momos for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is from Pokhara. The momos are different in these two towns. He is used to momo served with thick sauce consistency achar and a consommé (clear soup made from bone stock).  Either way it is still our favourite dish. I believe all Nepalese will agree if we say it might as well be our national dish.

Here is the picture of my momo from last weekend. Enjoy.

Love from Oz
Mrs Grg