Secrets of the HEARTH

WAZWAN TO DHAM, THERE IS A LOT THAT THE HIMALAYAN KITCHEN HAS GIVEN TO THE COUNTRY’S CULINARY LEDGER, SAYS MADHULIKA DASH

- MADHULIKA DASH

For most of us the very idea of Himalayan food is this exciting mesh of some of the finest, most lavish delicaies. A culture where you can find dishes as diverse as momos, dal-bhaat-tarkari, thukpa and cheese, which range from the fresh kalari to the aged chhurpi, the Himalayan cuisine is as extensive as it gets. The food is a celebration of local flavours and produce and often, to the outsider at least, seems to follow the same pattern as the rest of India. Fascinatingly, it isn’t.

“For starters,” says Yangdup Lama, seasoned hotelier and owner of Café Lungta in Gurugram, “we do not have the concept of a thali. The now famous Nepali dal-bhaat-tarkaaridahi thali is not only a late entry but also belongs to the community that stays on the foothills. For tribes who belong to the Himalayan range, we have food in a bowl available round the year.”

Lama hails from an older Buddhist tribe that once called the extreme cold areas of Tibet and Bhutan their home, and descended to the foothills a few decades ago in search of better opportunities. And yet, every year this seasoned hotelier travels to his home to create the winter stash much like his grandparents and their grandparents before, to “nourish himself and keep the tradition alive.”

The interesting thing about food in the Himalaya is that it has to be acutely functional and nourishing. Given the extreme weather conditions, making something lavish like a thali is a luxury. In fact, most of the traditional meals, including the now-famous momo, are made with local produce and seasoning. The lack of spices in the Himalaya led to a tradition of cooking with fresh and fermented produce.