What is the Difference Between Indian and Nepalese Food?

In this brief guide, we will answer the query, “What is the Difference Between Indian and Nepalese Food?” and will discuss the main ingredients in Indian and Nepalese food.

What is the Difference Between Indian and Nepalese Food?

Because Nepal shares borders with India, Tibet, and China, its cuisine draws on flavors from all three. Flatbreads, Curry, turmeric, and rice are all popular delicacies in both India and Nepal. While Indian food utilizes heavy cream and sugar liberally, Nepalese cuisine avoids both and is thus considered healthier than Indian fare.

What is Nepalese traditional cuisine like, and how does it compare to Indian food in terms of flavors?

Nepal’s cuisine is a genuine mash-up of Tibetan, Indian, Chinese, and other Asian influences. Nepalese cuisine, like Indian cuisine, uses a variety of herbs and spices in many of its dishes, including:

These spices are often used in Indian cuisine as well, such as in their famous Momo Masala spice blend: spices like cardamom and cumin, onions and garlic, and spices like turmeric and red chilies and fenugreek and coriander.

Nepal, like other Asian nations, eats a lot of pulao (fried rice), which is a common dish. In India, pulao is often served with yogurt and papadums with rice. Like in India, Nepalis eat a lot of lentils, potatoes, and tomatoes, and they also like chutneys as an addition to their meals. Both nations are also well-known for their use of ghee in the kitchen (clarified butter).

Soups are a major area of difference between the two cuisines, with the Nepali preferring Thukpa, a regional variant on chicken noodle soup.

Another difference is the use of buckwheat flour in a dish known as Dhido or Dheedo, which has the consistency of oatmeal or grits (which is naturally gluten-free despite the name). Because Nepal is so near to India, you may expect to see classic Indian dishes there as well.

What is Nepal’s most well-known dish?

Nepal’s most popular dishes are lentil soup Dal bhat tarkari, soup dumplings Momo (either steamed or fried), porridge made from buckwheat called Dhido or Dheedo, and flatbread similar to pizza made from rice flour called Chatamari.

If Indian cuisine is anything to go by, expect to see plenty of rice dishes, curries, and maybe a few more surprises.

The “comida tipica” of Nepal is dal bhat tarkari. Daal is an Indian term for lentils, split peas, or occasionally even beans, although it may also apply to any of these legumes. Lentil, on the other hand, is the most widely used. Lentil and spice soup known as daal bhat tarkari. Bhat, a steamed grain, is often served with it in traditional Indian cuisine.

Curry powder and other veggies are added to the lentils before they are finished cooking. Nepali people are known to have this dish twice a day. Above, I described Momo Masala, a spice mixture used in the second most well-known meal, simply referred to as Momo. This is a dumpling that looks eerily similar to the soup dumplings you would get at a dim sum restaurant.

The mixture of minced buffalo, chicken, and/or pork, as well as veggies, is mixed into the dough. Steamed or fried, they’re a little like Chinese potstickers. Every restaurant in Nepal serves this meal, which is often served as an appetizer.

Dheedo is one of Nepal’s most well-known dishes, although Chatamari comes in a close second. The Newari people of the Kathmandu Valley, who are kind of the indigenous people, are the source of this. I’m not going to lie to you. This resembles a pizza a lot. It’s served as an appetizer, much like Momo.

Rice flour is used to make this flatbread (much, but not all Nepalese cuisine would be naturally gluten-free). It’s usually topped with finely minced meat, eggs, and more recognizable toppings like tomato, onions, and chili peppers rather than mozzarella and tomato sauce.

Some of India’s most popular meals are:

Chaat

Indian street cuisine known as chaat is a common delicacy across the nation, although there are numerous regional variants. In most cases, it begins with a fried, crispy bread or cracker spread with chutney, followed by a variety of toppings including fried potatoes, chopped onion, or diced tomato.

Matar Paneer 

 Of course, paneer is that delectable Indian cheese that resembles cubes of tofu in terms of texture. A thick tomato gravy combines paneer, which refers to peas, with the other ingredients. Northern India is where this is most prevalent.

Dosa

It’s very unusual to see this South Indian classic stuffed with tasty turmeric potatoes and served with chutneys, but it’s an Indian crepe prepared from fermented rice and lentil flour batter.

Biryani

As a side dish or as the main course, several methods of making fried rice known as Biryani are popular across India. Spiced yogurt, whole spices, chicken, or goat cheese are all served over basmati rice (or vegetarian).

Rogan Josh

A thick sauce of ginger, garlic, onion, yogurt, and spices coats pieces of lamb (or mutton). The red chilies provide color and taste, but the seeds are removed for a milder version.

Butter Chicken 

It is a Northern Indian dish that resembles the chicken tikka masala dish that most of us in the United States are used to. A rich tomato stew thick with cream is used to cook the marinated chicken chunks.

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we answered the query, “What is the Difference Between Indian and Nepalese Food?” and discussed the main ingredients in Indian and Nepalese food.

References

https://hiroasiankitchen.com/what-is-the-difference-between-indian-and-nepalese-food/
https://kitchenappliancehq.com/what-is-the-difference-between-indian-and-nepalese-food/

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