०९ · Twice a day, every day
Dal bhat
The meal that walks the mountains. Ask any porter what gets them up the pass.
Every tea house
What it is
Lentil soup, rice and vegetable curry
When
Late morning and evening
Where
Every home and lodge in Nepal
Refills
Usually free, keep eating
On the trail
The best value meal on the menu
Photograph by Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka, CC BY-SA 4.0
The story
Dal bhat is the national meal of Nepal: a bowl of lentil soup poured over rice, with tarkari, a curry of whatever vegetables are in season, greens, and a sharp pickle on the side. Most Nepali families eat it twice a day, every day, and no one tires of it.
On the trail it is the meal that makes sense. It is cooked fresh, it is hot, it fills you, and in nearly every tea house the cook will come round with a pot and fill your plate again for no extra charge.
Every region has its own version. Around Jomsom and Marpha the Thakali set, served on brass with ghee, buckwheat and local greens, is famous across the country.
What to see and do.
- ०१
Thakali khana in Marpha
The richest dal bhat in Nepal, in the apple orchard village on the Annapurna Circuit.
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A Newari feast
In Bhaktapur or Patan, a samay baji spread of beaten rice, buffalo, lentil cakes and pickles.
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A cooking class
Learn the dal, the tarkari and the pickle with a family in Kathmandu or Pokhara.
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The lodge kitchen
Sit by the stove in a tea house kitchen as the evening dal bhat is made.
Adapted from a photograph by Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0
Before you go
What to know.
Eat with your right hand if you like. Mix the dal into the rice and take it with your fingertips.
Ordering dal bhat helps the lodge, which plans its kitchen around it, and saves fuel.
Say ali ali, a little, when the refill comes and you are full.
Next place
Boudhanathबौद्धनाथ