9 tasty, traditional dishes to try when travelling in Nepal

Dal bhat (or daal bhat) is the quintessential Nepali meal and forms the backbone of the country's cuisine. It consists of steamed rice (bhat) served with a lentil soup (dal) and is accompanied by an array of side dishes.

Dal bhat can be simple or fancy depending on where you are

While dal may appear simple at first, it's packed with flavour as it uses various spices like turmeric, cumin and coriander. And you're always given sides of vegetables, as well as sometimes achar (spicy pickles), dahi (curd or yoghurt), papad (poppadam) or chapati (unleavened bread). You can also often opt for a side of fish, chicken, goat or water buffalo.

Dal bhat is generally served in various vessels and you mix it together

Momos are delicious dumplings found on almost every street corner of Nepal. You can also enjoy upmarket versions in restaurants. In fact, momos are now so widespread that they've become a recognisable staple of the national cuisine.

Fried momos with schezwan sauce

Momos consist of a thin, doughy shell stuffed with a variety of fillings, including minced meat (usually buffalo or chicken), vegetables or cheese. They're typically served steamed or fried and come with a tangy dipping sauce.

The dough used in momos is often hand-rolled to perfection, resulting in delicate, mouthwatering parcels of flavour.

Tibetan momos with potato curry and yak jerky sukuti

Thukpa is a warming Tibetan noodle soup that has made its way into Nepali cuisine, especially in the northern regions bordering Tibet.

Thukpa is a common option in Himalayan teahouses (lodge)

This hearty soup features hand-pulled wheat noodles, tender pieces of meat (often yak or chicken), and a flavourful broth made with herbs and spices.

Filling and tasty egg thukpa

Kwati is a wholesome and nutritious soup made from a mix of nine different types of sprouted beans and lentils!

Kwati is a mixed soup, but sprouted beans are the hero of the dish

The beans and lentils used to make kwati are soaked and allowed to sprout, enhancing their nutritional value. The sprouts are then slow-cooked with a variety of spices to create a thick, flavoursome soup that's both hearty and healthy.

Kwati (or nakpi kwati) is commonly prepared during the Hindu festival of Janai Purnima, which is all about the bond of purity and security.

Kathmandu devotees celebrating Janai Purnima

This festival (also known as Raksha Bandhan or Sacred Thread Festival) usually falls on the day of the full moon in the Nepali month of Shrawan (July or August).

Sekuwa is a mouthwatering Nepali barbecue dish that features marinated and skewered pieces of meat (usually buffalo, chicken or pork).

Chicken sekuwa being grilled

The meat used to make sekuwa is marinated in garlic, ginger and mustard oil, among other spices. It's then grilled over an open flame, giving it a delightfully charred and smoky taste.

Sekuwa is often served with beaten rice, pickles and a side of mint and coriander (cilantro) chutney.

A delicious plate of fried chicken sekuwa

Chatamari is a traditional Newari dish that's a must-try for anyone visiting Nepal. It consists of a thin rice flour crêpe topped with a variety of ingredients, such as minced meat, vegetables, eggs and spices. The end story is a savoury and flavourful pizza-like dish with a unique texture.

Chatamari can look like many different things depending on who is making it

The Newars are an indigenous community of the Kathmandu Valley who have their own unique cuisine that's a must-try for any food enthusiast visiting Nepal.

Chatamari is usually enjoyed as a light meal, so it's a great one to pick up in a market during a day of exploring when you discover your energy is waning.

Sha phaley (or shakpa or shapta) is a popular dish in the Mt Everest region of eastern Nepal. If you go trekking to Everest Base Camp, then this is a great local dish to try!

Sha phaley is basically a Tibetan dish of bread stuffed with seasoned red meat

Sha phaley consists of thinly sliced red meat, often beef, that's been stir-fried with aromatic spices, which include chilli and Sichuan pepper. It's served with steamed rice or Tibetan bread, such as tingmo, and chilli sauce.

Sometimes sha phaley includes a variety of vegetables, which add lots of colour and nutrients to the dish.

If you go trekking in the Himalayas near the border of China, you'll find people who are ethnically and culturally linked to Tibet, and hence favour traditional Tibetan dishes like tsampa.

Tsampa balls served with yoghurt and radish sprouts

Tsampa is a simple but highly nutritious and energy-rich dish made from roasted barley flour. You find it served up in many forms: dough balls, soup, toppings, and even as a butter tea.

We highly recommend that those trekking in the Tibetan-influenced regions of the Nepali Himalayas try some tsampa, as it's a fantastic source of energy!

A tsampa treat along with tsampa butter tea

Sel roti is a traditional Nepali, especially Newar, rice-based doughnut or ring-shaped bread. It's the perfect on-the-go treat when out and about in Kathmandu!

Some sel roti in all their crispy, tasty perfection

You make sel roti by mixing rice flour with sugar, milk and spices to create a thick batter. This batter is then deep-fried to perfection, resulting in a crispy outer layer and a soft, chewy inside.

If you want to really feel like a local, have your sel roti with a cup of tea. But be warned: its sweet and slightly savoury taste makes it a bit addictive!

Many Nepali are vegetarians, either because meat is too expensive or they don't want to eat it for religious reasons.

Momo jhol achar in spicy tomato chutney

The prevalence of vegetarianism in Nepal makes travelling there an exciting culinary experience for vegetarians and vegans as well as meat eaters! Note that you won't see cow meat on menus in many regions, as cows are sacred in Hinduism, which is one of the country's main religions.

When you trek deep into the Himalayas of Nepal, you enter a world far away from airports and tarred roads – or even dirt roads, for that matter. Often, the only way for food to get into the area is by foot, donkey or yak.

What this means is that any fish or meat you're served in your teahouse (lodge) during your Himalayan trek has likely been transported there overland on the back of a horse, donkey or cow-yak hybrid.

A typical vegetarian thukpa in a Himalayan trekking teahouse

Many tasty and nutritious Nepali staple dishes like those we've described above can be enjoyed as vegetarian or even vegan options. Why not opt to be a vegetarian just while on your trek?

That said, if you're really keen to try a popular meat-based dish, we suggest you do this right at the beginning, or at the very end, of your trek. In other words, eat meat-based dishes only when you're in a town or village that still has good access to the road network as well as reliable electricity (because this means reliable refrigeration).

Kathmandu is the perfect place to try meaty or fishy dishes while in Nepal!

The good news is that no matter where you travel in Nepal, whether it's a city holiday or you head into remote regions on a trek, there will be plenty of tasty and flavourful Nepali and regional dishes to try. And we suggest you make the most of the opportunity to sample as many of them as possible!