Nepali

Nepal sits at the meeting of India, Tibet, and China — and the cuisine is the conversation between three giants. The daily meal across the country is dal bhat tarkari: lentil dal, rice, seasonal vegetable curry, fermented gundruk greens, achaar pickle, sometimes a piece of meat. Mountain trekkers know the rhythm — dal bhat twice a day, every day. Momos — Tibetan-derived dumplings of pork, buffalo, or vegetables — are sold from every corner cart in Kathmandu, dipped in tomato-chili achaar. Newar Kathmandu Valley cuisine is the high-end variant: samay baji feast plates, choila grilled buffalo, bara fried lentil patties. Sherpa highland cooking uses tsampa (roasted barley flour) and butter tea adapted from Tibet. The cuisine is rice-and-lentil-anchored, spice-restrained compared to Indian, and changes radically with altitude.