If you have been following this blog, you will have noticed that I have not been posting for some time. Been really busy, and just returned from a trip to Nepal about a week ago. Had a great time, and it was not just because of the excellent food!

Nepali food is similar to Indian food in many ways, except perhaps, with a bit of Chinese influence. Not surprising, since the beautiful country is sandwiched between both India and China. I especially loved the basmati rice and chappatis with dhal, curries, and various spices, pickles and meats (including buffalo, which was the most exotic meat i had on the trip). One dish that I especially liked was a really spicy salsa-like dip with tomatoes, onions, chillies and other stuff…and it went especially well with chappati or rice.

Another food which left an indelible mark in my memory (and my waistline) is the ‘momo’. It is a similar to Japanese ‘gyoza’ and Chinese ‘jiao zi’ or ‘guo tie’, except that it is not fried (at least not the ones i had). The ones i had contained a meat (either buffalo, chicken, pork or duck), and an almost sinful gravy or juice (like ‘xiao long bao’) which makes the ‘momo’ burst in your mouth with an intense flavour that is spicy, but not overpowering. It came with a dip which looked like mustard, and tasted like mustard mixed with mayo and some other spices. However, it tasted great on its own and i preferred it without the dip.

Another thing that struck me about Nepalese food was the portions. The portions are HUGE! No matter where you are eating (hotel cafeterias, Nepali restaurants, “tourist-safe” western-style restaurants, or your hosts’ home), there will be a heap of food on your plate, and lots more where it came from. So-much-so that, I was hard-pressed to finish off what was on my plate sometimes.

While walking in Durbar Square one day, where they were selling fruits, I came across a roadside vendor who was selling these pretty little red fruits which I thought were cherries, or cherry tomatoes. I took a closer look, and she smiled and signaled to me that they were chillies. From her expression, I gathered that they had to be really hot. I asked my host what they were called, but he wasn’t sure what they were called in English…although he too said that they were bad-ass.

When I came back, I did a little online search, and found that they were called Red Savinas…and they ARE bad-ass. They were the hottest chillies in the world until 2006, when they were replaced by the Naga Jolokia peppers.

I think I might have tasted some of it in the salsa-like dip I mentioned earlier. To paraphrase a quote from a semi-famous local personality, they were “red” and almost made my mouth go “boomz”…

Update (March 2010): I stand corrected…these are actually hot cherry peppers. While red savinas are definitely more bad-ass than these, these still pack a punch (about as much as a jalapeno, i was told)