By Bidisha Bagchi (Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2007-02-16 10:40

Nepali Kitchen has carefully preserved the tradition of the country's cuisine and lived up to the standard of serving guests from all around the world with its Himalayan fare.

Set up in a three level building,the decor is magnificent; the first and the third floors have arrangements of cane chairs grouped in fours. The mezzanine floor has one large room each, mainly for large groups.

Ethnic decor is the key word in the entire set up, so we chose to sit on a long floor cushion decorated with variety of colorful cushions for support. The background had copper and brass wares, the tables were low with cane mats, and one is expected to sit with legs crossed.

Natural sunlight came in through the transparent glass roof and when it rained the pitterpatter sound served as natural background music.

Like all Asian food, Nepali food has its regional variations with its simple and subtle flavors. Blends of common ingredients and spices like onion-garlic-ginger and cumin- coriander-turmeric, and some unique Himalayan herbs like timur and jimbu adds to the uniqueness of this cuisine.

There is one combination meal that has actually characterized the country's cuisine; daal, tarkari and bhaat. Daal is a very light lentil soup,sauted with cumin seeds or onions,bhaat is starch free plain white rice and tarkari is the generic name for the vegetable curry that is prepared with seasonal vegetables.

For starters we ordered for Chicken Chilli, a tasty preparation of boneless chunks of chicken marinated in soy sauce and cooked with green capsicum, onions and tomatoes.Momos, our second starter, was the steamed version of dumplings with meat fillings , beautifully shaped like a "C" and served with a hot red chilli sauce.For the main course we took Bhaat, Daal and Aloo Dum, an exotic dry preparation of potatoes (aloo), onions and tomatoes cooked covered in slow flame (Dum) and garnished with coriander and green chillies. Traditionally, Nepalese food is to be eaten by using your right hand, unless you are a lefty by nature's choice. Therefore we poured the main dish, Mutton Curry, on the rice, mixed it well and ate it.

The Mutton Curry is an unusually light and tasty preparation of succulent pieces ofmutton cooked in gravy of turmer ic, cumin, coriander,onion, tomato and lightly flavored green chilli. For desserts, sikarni,a fruit based yogurt was ideal. The dish is an age old dish of Nepal.

Food in the Nepali Kitchen is pr iced very reasonably and will suit everyone's budget and palate. There is an option of taking a vegetarian meal priced at 45 yuan which includes a soup, the daal-bhaat-tarkari combo, an extra vegetable, pickle, dessert, tea or coffee.

The quantity is sufficient for two moderate eaters to share. The non-vegetarian meal, on the other hand, includes all the items as in the veg category and twomeaty items; either chicken or beef, and is priced at 60 yuan.

The Nepali Kitchen
Location: No 4 lane, 819 Julu Road
Tel: 021-54046281