Nepali Dal Bhat: The National Preparation

Dal bhat has been the diet of the Nepali hills for centuries — the lentil (usually masoor, red lentil, or toor) cooked daily, the rice grown in the lowland Terai and traded into the hills. The preparation is so fundamental to Nepali identity that the national toast ("dal bhat power — 24 hour!") uses it as a symbol of sustenance and endurance.

Dal bhat — the twice-daily preparation of lentil dal with plain rice (bhat) that is the national dish of Nepal — is simultaneously the simplest and most complete expression of dal cooking. Unlike Indian dal (which varies enormously by region and event), Nepali dal bhat is an everyday staple eaten by almost every household twice daily. Its simplicity is its sophistication: a correctly made Nepali dal has a specific clarity and lightness that richer, more complex preparations obscure.

The timur (Nepali Sichuan pepper) used in some Nepali tadka preparations is the bridge between South Asian and East Asian cooking — its hydroxy-alpha-sanshool numbing compound is the same as Sichuan hua jiao (FD-90), connecting the cooking traditions of the Himalayas across their length.