Nepal

Menu: Dal bhat tarkari | Recipe Source: nepalitummy.com, indianhealthyrecipes.com, internationalcuisine.com, and cookshideout.com

Armed with over fifteen spices and a jar of ghee, I set out to make Nepal’s national dish of dal (lentils/peas) bhat (rice) tarkari (curry). While the tarkari for this beautifully plated feast is traditionally made with seasonal vegetables, I stumbled across kukhura ko masu (spicy Nepali chicken curry) and couldn’t let it go. I ended up making both chicken curry and aloo kauli tarkari (potato and cauliflower curry), and for my dal, I went with a mix of chana dal (yellow splitpeas) and urad (black mungbeans). Curried spinach saag, jasmine rice, a crispy papad, Greek yogurt, green mango pickles, and cucumber spears rounded out the platter, and after finally summoning the energy to crawl out of my food coma, I’m happy to announce that this was easily one of the best meals of the entire project.

Urad & Chana Dal: Creamy, spicy, earthy, and sweetly fragrant. The combination of both pulsed and whole lentils gave the dal an amazing texture, and the mixture of ginger, garam masala, and turmeric added a nourishing, homey warmth.

Aloo Kauli Tarkari: Without a doubt the best vegetarian meal I’ve ever had. I had to make some liquid adjustments (see notes below the photos!) to ensure that it didn’t dry out while the cauliflower steamed, but it turned out beautifully and was both filling and packed with flavor.

Kukhura Ko Masu: As someone who orders vindaloo every single time she gets Indian for dinner, this could not have been more up my alley. Fiery, tomato-y, and loaded with herbs and spices, this curry was just as good as I suspected it would be.

Saag: This was my biggest surprise of the dish! I normally don’t like wilted greens at all because the texture isn’t my favorite, but the seasoning actually made this one very enjoyable.

Accoutrements: Who doesn’t like jasmine rice?! The cucumbers added a wonderful crisp, cold pop to an otherwise very warm dish (as did the yogurt, according to Anthony), and the crackly papad- a thin lentil wafer- was a fun textural addition.

Ready to cook?

Urad Dal (link): I followed this recipe exactly and used the Instant Pot pressure cooking method.

Aloo Kauli Tarkari (link): I cooked the fenugreek seeds in ghee until they turned brown and then pulled them out before adding the other spices because they have a very hard, rocky texture and I wasn’t sure I wanted to eat them. I chose to not add peas because I personally don’t like them, and prior to the covered cooking step, I added a full cup of veggie broth and 3 tbsp coconut cream (and then cooked the mixture covered until the liquid reduced by two-thirds).

Kukhura Ko Masu (link): This was the recipe I took the most liberties with. I skipped the first blending step and went straight into tempering the spices, and instead of using diced tomato (which would have been blended with water), I added tomato paste (1/4 cup), chicken stock (2 cups), and 4-5 tbsp coconut cream. I also added 1/4 chopped cilantro along with the liquids.

Saag (link): I followed this recipe exactly!