Nepali food Recipes by My sasu mom

My Mother in law belongs to Syangja district and have been staying in Delhi since a long time.Her cookery skills are really useful.Her different Nepali cuisine recipe are really enjoyable.

Kaalo Maas ko Daal

Combine the beans, minced ginger, salt, turmeric, Szechwan pepper, 1 tablespoons of the clarified butter, and 3 1/2 cups of water in a deep, heavy pot.  Bring the mixture to a quick boil over medium-high heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure the beans do not boil over or stick together.   Cook for about 20 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently until the beans are tender and have doubled in volume, about 55 minutes.  If necessary, all more water to attain a soupy consistency, and simmer 5 more minutes.  Remove the pot from the heat and set aside.

 
In a small skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add he chilies and jimbu, and fry until light brown and fragrant, about 5 seconds.  Add asafetida, then immediately add he julienned ginger and garlic, and fry until crisp, about 10 seconds.  Immediately pour the entire mixture into the daal and stir well.  Cover and allow the seasoning to develop for 5 minutes.  Transfer the daal to a serving dish and serve hot.  The daal will thicken if not served at once, so reheat it with 3 to 4 tablespoons of water if it needs to be warmed again.

Mulako Achar

On sliced radishes, add around 3 table spoons of salt. Mix well and leave it aside for an hour.After an hour, you will see excess water coming out from the mixture. Throw away the excess water.Add little (around 1/2 table spoon ) salt, this time. Also add all of the remaining ingredients mentioned above.Mix well and start bottling. The mixture in the bottle should fit tightly. There should not be any gap. Therefore, press hard as you put the mixture inside the bottle.

 Once bottling part is done, put the bottle outside in the sun or wherever in the kitchen for 2 weeks. I just left it on my dining table.Refrigerate it for 1-2 days before you actually eat. I use this technique because these kind of pickle can get overly sour if just let outside. Refrigerating the pickle makes the taste fresh as well as sourness is maintained at the optimum level. Also, this technique is good for those who have throat issues. Khadeko Mula ko Achar is ready to eat. Enjoy with your regular meal.

Masaura

Clean lentils and soaking to remove the husk.Grind it to powder.Add other vegetables shreds and pidalu, karkalo etc. in equal proportion to lentils.Make a fine paste of mixture of lentil power and vegetables.Shape into balls of reasonable size .Put those balls under the sun to dry.Put it in a glass jar or anyother dry container and preserve for long time.

Gundruk recipe

Heat oil and fry chopped onions, tomatoes, chilies. Drain up soaked Gundruk/Sinki and fry, add turmeric powder and salt, and put 2 cups of water. Boil for 10 min, and serve hot with cooked rice.

Chukauni 

Boil and peel potatoes.Cut into minimum sized chunks.Add pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice (to quickly season potatoes).Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil fry fenugreek seeds, garlic, green chilies, and turmeric until the fenugreek seed turns brown.Add to the potato mix.Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix.You can add as little or as much yogurt as you would like depending on personal preference, although I think less yogurt is better than more.

PUDINA ACHAR 

Clean the Mint by taking only the leaves, wash them and keep it aside.In a pan add Oil .Add Black dal Channa dal and remaining ingredients ,fry for 1 min.Add the Mint leaves and fry till the leaves shrink and leave the moisture. It takes about 3-5 minutes. Allow it to cool down.Add coconut and grind to fine paste. Add little water while grinding if necessary. 

 Tite Karela ko Achar

Cut bitter gourd into thin pieces.Dry roast 2 teaspoons mustard and ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds.When done powder them.Heat vegetable oil in the panLet 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds to splutter.Add powdered mustard, fenugreek and asafetida.Stir it properlyAdd salt, chili powder and bitter gourd.Mix it well.Add little hot water and 3 table spoons of vinegar and mix well.Close the pan and cook till the bitter gourd is done.

Golbheda ko Achar

Wash and cut tomatoes into four halves.Heat a pan.Add oil, when pan is hot add fenugreek seeds and thyme seed.When they turn golden brown pour tomato, onion, garlic, ginger and green chili at the same time.Add turmeric and salt .When it starts to give water then add coriander powder and red chilies.Let it cook until all the water dries .Add fresh coriander .Your cooked tomato achar is ready to serve. 

Dhido

Heat a heavy pan on the gas (kasaudi is best).Put the water in the pan adding a pinch of flour in it and cover it to let it boil.Let the water boil properly, if the water is not well boiled dhido may not be well cooked.Add 2 spatula of flour in the water and stir it properly.You have to continuously stir the dhido till it gets cooked.  (otherwise  it  will have balls on dhedo).Let it cook for about 5 minutes.

One enjoys her cooking style and food items she prepares at home to collect the ideas shaped by her at home is my attempt to identify the flavors through fonts.My  sasu mom cooks for our family. This is a basic fact about my household that I had never thought to question. I always expected to come home to the smells of chili, garlic and spices mingling in the air, the sounds of a pressure cooker whistling or a pot on the stove bubbling, and the sight of my mom trying to find new ways to beautifully present dishes on a platter. 

Recently, however, I began thinking about the gendered and cultural implications of such a decision. My  sasu mom grew up in Syangja , a small town outside of Delhi, where she was constantly surrounded by people stating that being able to cook was crucial in making a woman more marriageable. However, while she was serving others, she was able to find for herself a satisfaction and sense of empowerment that is not traditionally present within the Indian housewife. Through her roles as a daughter, wife, and mother, my  sasu mom has been able to find a balance between fulfilling long-established Indian customs while resisting against the stereotypical associations of an Indian woman in the kitchen.