Food and Drinks

Nepalese people traditionally eat Daal Bhat twice a day. This is the national dish which contains rice, dal soup, vegetable curry and spicy pickle. Sometimes you can find it with meat curry, normally chicken or goat. Nepalese don’t eat beef but they do eat buffalo meat. Other foods commonly eaten are momos (meat or veg dumpling), chowmin, fried rice, noodle soup, chapatti and curd. Whilst trekking, these are the foods that you should commonly expect to eat. Being vegetarian is not a problem as they are also well catered. In the big towns and cities, you can get virtually any kind of food you like in one of many restaurants, though western food is more expensive than local food.

Some typical Nepali food items found in the trek regions of the hills:

Gundruk: Green vegetables when dried become black and can be stored literally for the rainy days. The Gundruk is a favorite dish item among Nepalis, either as soup or pickle items.

Dhido: A paste item made from flour eaten generally in the far flung mountain areas where it’s difficult to find rice. Dhido with Gundruk soup is in fact the representative of difficult mountain life.

Mohi: This is a most refreshing beverage after a long tiring walk. Mohi, a beverage made by churning the curd, traditionally used to be offered to all guests for its cooling effects. Sadly, however, bottled soft drinks have replaced these healthy drinks in most of the accessible places.

Momo, Choyila, Kachila: Most popular items in Kathmandu and Pokhara Valleys made from Buffalo meat. In fact, the Newars in the Valley make a distinct item from every buffalo part.

Chang, Jand, & Tomba: Locally brewed beer & beverage. Chang is popular among the ethnic Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, and in the mountains. Tomba is fermented millet grains in which boiled water in added and the drink is sucked through a bamboo straw.