A Tiwari and S. Thapa

Kathmandu, wrote Pico Iyer in his whirlwind of a book, Video Night in Kathmandu, is the place in Asia for the most delicious Western-style desserts. That was 12 years ago, when every unspecialized ‘touristy’ restaurant in town listed all kinds of dishes – Tibetan, Continental, Mexican — on its menu. That is, all kinds of dishes, except the Nepali ones.

Why? Because, at that time, hardly anybody was confident about the prospects of unglamorous dal-bhaat, merely a variation on the standard North Indian cuisine, actually pulling in foreigners longing for a different taste.

Happily, that diffidence now seems to be a thing of the past. For the last several years, restaurants such as Bhanchaa Ghar (Kamaladi) and Bhojan Griha (Dilli Bazaar) have been attracting diners by stressing their Nepaliness through the ambiance and the cuisine. Some, such as Bakaina Batika (Ekanta Kuna), serving even Dhindo and Sisnu, have been quietly retaining the faithfuls, while others, ranging from Nanglo (Durbar Marg) to Aroma (Jamal), now routinely serve full-course Nepali meals of dal-bhaat-tarkari-achar-dahi for lunch or dinner.

But, fortunately, as anyone who has travelled across Nepal can assert, dal-bhaat alone is not all that there is of Nepali cuisine. Indeed, the repertoire now includes, to give some examples, many Newari, Thakali, Sherpa and (Dangaura) Tharu dishes that are served at a number of specialized ethnic restaurants in and out of Kathmandu. At the most, these restaurants present unique cultural experiences, allowing one to leisurely sample, as it were, a particular slice of Nepal. And, at the least, they offer sanitized and pricey alternatives to road-side bhattis, bhojanalayas, momo and bara (woh) pasals where, as Nepali friends never tire of telling others, how delicious a dish is, is often inversely proportional to how clean the surroundings are!

In recent times, this enthusiasm for Nepali cuisine seems to have run so high that even big-name Kathmandu hotels now kick off day-long food festivals based entirely on it.

We visited one such event at Dwarika’s (Battis Putali), which hosted a day-long Kwati Festival on Tuesday, August 15, on the day of Janai Purnima. Those who know about Dwarika’s know that it is a hotel —favourite of the likes of long-time Nepal explorer Tony Hagen, respected for its loyalty to traditional art, and known in the heritage circles for its dignified Newari Malla architecture of handmade bricks, terra-cotta and carefully restored works of ancient wood.

And so, taking in the cool scenery of well-lit brick walls, peaceful cobble-stone chowk, and visually pleasing arrangement of the food and bowls, we started off with a range of appetizers. Bhatmaas, masyang, simi and badaam (all sandheko or lightly pickled) and alu achaar were tangy – seasoned enough to give an anticipatory zest to the tongue. The vessels of the masala (spices) were all nearby, and sprinkling fresh-ground garlic, ginger, coriander and the like to suit one’s taste was easy. Still, buff chhoyala and pieces of boiled chicken tasted somewhat dull. In retrospect, we could only attribute this to our being spoiled by Newar friends who have occasionally been feeding us sharper, more piquant versions of chhoyala at their homes.

This piquancy was important because Newari food is best enjoyed in a combination of salty, peppery, tangy and spicy hot forms. These forms end up leaving the lingering salty taste, and later help generate body heat that’s good for rainy, wintry days. To cool off, however, there was ample serving of aila (or, in this case, Bhaktapur-made home-brewed grain alcohol) on a ceramic bowl.

One could feel every sip of the aila burning up the food-pipe for a few seconds, before coolly settling down with the momos, which we ate off a leaf-plate. Woh (or bara), fried on an open black pan, followed next, accompanied by tangy meat sauce. The consistency, the texture and the taste of the woh was surprisingly good, and could, we decided, give a decent competition to the ones served in that famous shop behind Patan’s Krishna Temple.

The main courses, Kwati (or Biraula or soaked legumes), a highly nutritious stew/soup of beans and grams, and Roti and potatoes were hot and filling. Barbecued mutton, chicken (sekuwa), and vegetables, and baked potatoes with parsley butter complemented the main courses quite well — making us feel heavy and relaxed, like we had had a good Newari meal, which we did. For desserts, we had malpuwa (a kind of small, spongy, sweet roti), mixed fruit and Bhaktapur-made curd — all of which drained the hot and tangy sensations off the mouth, leaving a sweet, pleasant taste.

Should Dwarika’s do such a food festival again? Yes. With enough prior advertisements, more Nepalis would visit the festival, enjoy well-made Newari food amidst the splendours of Malla architecture. Ancient heritage and fine dining, after all, go together quite well. Let’s hope that that’s what Pico Iyer discovers next time he visits Kathmandu.