All You Need to Know About the Famous Dal Bhat of Nepal

The traditional “Dal Bhat” fuels the Nepalese every day. This dish is the staple food in every household and treated unintentionally superior to other dishes. The base of Dal Bhat of Nepal remains the same which is rice and lentils but the side dishes, curry, and the taste keep changing in every part of the country. It may be some of the basic dishes for the natives but the importance of this dish doesn’t fluctuate at all. Every winter festival and occasional celebrations involve the staple food with mouth-watering side dishes. The dish is also the common comfort food for the crowd. Tourists don’t leave Nepal without tasting this exemplary dish at least once. The dish makes its way to everyday healthy dose of nutrition for the residents as well as the tourists, especially the trekkers. Here are some incredible things to know about this traditional dish.

Dal Bhat Tarkari – A Gentle Introduction of the Trio

On hearing this simple dish, there is just one thing that pops up in mind ‘comfort food’. This hearty dish is loved and preferred by Nepalese at any time of the day. It’s served for lunch or dinner. The third friend of Dal Bhat Nepal here called tarkari is referred to as the side dishes that are served along with the main course.

The tarkari consists of many different things that include vegetable curry, meat curry, fried chicken, cucumber, onions, curd, pickle, and other seasonal vegetables.

Dal Bhat for Trekkers

You must know about some of the benefits of this dish for trekkers. If you are a trekker or aspire to be one, in both cases Dal Bhat of Nepal will serve the purpose right. This dish is mostly vegetarian; however, you can always add meat or chicken as your personal preference. This dish can also be vegan, depending on what oil is used, or if the curd is added or not.

This dish is so widely preferred across the country that the tourists are highly suggested to try Dal Bhat of Nepal from different places. Different cities have different flavors to offer, and in some places, they also add some medicinal herbs and special ingredients in dal to enhance the flavors.

This dish is often mentioned as “Dal Bhat Power 24 Hour’’ for a reason, it is packed with energy and strength for trekkers that help them in trekking. If you think you might get bored with this dish, then you are mistaken because its flavors highly vary from place to place.

Cooking Dal Bhat

Dal Bhat of Nepal is prepared easily and quickly because the people of the mountains use a pressure cooker. So if you want to cook a traditional Dal Bhat of Nepal you don’t have to try it exactly how it is done. You can always play with flavors and invent something new. Here’s one way you can try to cook this staple dish of Nepal.

You can start with making the rice, and the first thing to do is soak the rice for at least 40 minutes. Then soak the lentils after measuring according to the number of people. Cook the plain rice with a few pinches of salt, and start with making the dal. The dal is a lentil soup cooked with salt, some tomatoes, turmeric, and a few mild spices. Sometimes, vegetables are also added in it to enhance the taste.

You will never taste the same flavors of Dal Bhat of Nepal because everywhere people have a different method of cooking. They might add different spices to enhance and innovate the flavors. But the core ingredients remain the same.

Nutritional Facts of Dal Bhat Nepal

The nutritional values of this staple dish are exceptional. It contains every nutrient needed to help you retain the energy you need for trekking and mountain climbing. Rice (Bhat) in the dish serves as the rich source of carbohydrate and dal (lentils) adds in the protein, fiber and lots of other minerals.

Apart from the nutritional values, you will be surprised to notice that dal provides some of the most inexpensive sources of protein and keeps you energetic and full for a longer duration of time.

The side dish, aka tarkari, also contributes a lot in providing the required nutritional value to your meal. Leafy- vegetables and other seasonal greens are a very healthy and good source of fiber. The side dishes also contain some tomato pickles which is again super good for digestion.

Dal Bhat of Nepal is by default the healthiest food you can eat. It contains all that is needed to give you instant energy and keep you full for hours.

Importance of Dal Bhat in the Social Community

The foodies can’t deny the virtual taste of this dish as they read through the importance of Dal Bhat of Nepal and lip-smacking flavors of innovative side dishes. Every household serves this delicious and super easy food in big copper plates with varieties of side dishes mainly some seasonal vegetables, crackers, chutney, pickles, meat, curd, cucumber, and other nutritious items.

Dal Bhat of Nepal is not only a dish in Nepal. It’s an emotion. They have a very close relationship with this dish in every household. Over the years, the dish has gone through some changes but it didn’t change the basic standards in any way. No dish could replace this hearty dish till now and as the craze for Dal Bhat suggests, it never will. If you haven’t already had enough about this exemplary dish, then you can find peace by trying your hand to make some for yourself.

Just reading about this comfort food might make your mouth water, as delicious as it sounds, it is easy to prepare too. There’s even a section in this post on how you can prepare Dal Bhat Nepal at home. You simply have to follow the procedure and feel free to add some twists into the recipe on your own. The side dish or the tarkari (the combination of vegetables, crackers, and other side dishes) is also easy to prepare. But if you want to keep it super traditional, that’s okay too. However, don’t forget to check out the nutrition content of this dish, it truly is inexpensive and rich in nutrition.