Topic: Name This Nepali Dish!!

[Jimmbo]

Bhat --- is more like "ta" than 'T'

You mean "th", right?

[anand]

I haven't heard of these two foods -- so, I don't know how they are pronounced:

Bhakcha Markhu  - BAHK-chah MARK-oo
Ema Datshi  - EL-mah DAHT-shee

rest -- in email.

[anand]

You mean "th", right?

taa -- ( tongue touching the upper front teeth )

[Jimmbo]

Email was great, thanks! My response was a little strange; I thought I was speaking to another Nepali contact. But both they and I will be glad for your help!

I couldn't hear the "taa" difference, so I think this pronunciation will work as well for native English speakers.

It turns out that Ema Datshi  is Bhutanese - in fact, the national dish of Bhutan. Cheese soup with chili peppers! Here is an image: http://img.food.com/img/recipes/47/78/83/large/picKXG3Lq.jpg:

Bhakcha Markhu is on the menu at a Nepali restaurant in Queens (which has turned into Little Nepal), and I think they invented it. it doesn't google at all!

Thanks yet again. I'll be very happy to credit xnepali.net in the book and app I'm building!

[Jimmbo]

Mystery solved! Kata-kat or tak-a-tak کٹاکٹ is a Pakistani dish, originating in Karachi but now popular all over.

It's hard to identify an authentic Nepali dish, because Nepalis are so good at cooking other people's cuisines! I live near a lot of very authentic Nepali places (serving an immigrant community), and their menus always include some Pakistani stuff, some Bhutanese stuff, as well as the usual Indian stuff (I know a Nepali would fight me on this, but Dal bhat seems a lot like an Indian Thali! And of course achar is eaten all over Bengal and Bangladesh).

Most people don't even realize that Nepalis invented Indian-Chinese food (which is popular around the world)! If I want momo, I just go to any Indian-Chinese restaurant. Even if momo aren't on the menu, they'll always make them!