MULKARKHA DELIGHTS
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RICE, DAL, SABZI, PAPAD & Homemade GHEE |
Imagine
yourself amidst the virgin mountains, shrouded in greenery, with the cold
mountain breeze lightly carrying your body and soul away from the maddening
city life. We found our abode of peace, where the people welcome you with an
open heart and a beaming smile. There they will accept you as one of their own,
sharing their homes, food, experiences and their lives with you.
They will
feed you till you burst with gratitude and happiness. The food there is
organic, farm fresh, grown and cooked right in front of your eyes. Each morsel is
fresh and delicious straight from the lap of Mother Nature. From being
bountifully filled with the beauty of nature, this place also offers you with
its local specialties when it comes to food.
From the
creamy and spicy Churpiko Achaar
that will complement your morning Aalu
ka Paratha, to the rustic and sweet Dhakane
which will end your evening dinner on a sweet note – the people of Lingsey, Jhusing, Tagathang and Mulkarkha has a lot to offer. A specialty of this region is Rai ka Saag, a leafy green from the mustard family. They either
serve it stir fried with your breakfast roti or in the form of Gundruk, a soup made with fermented Rai ka Saag which they serve as a side dish with rice. This leafy green is a great source of vitamins and rounds of your meal.
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GUNDRUK |
After having this nutritious, slightly bitter and sour greens you
won’t even feel guilty about loading your Rotis with dollops of freshly churned
homemade ghee or clarified butter. The Ghee was exceptionally creamy and flavorful, nothing like we have ever tasted before. If you are lucky they might
also serve you with fresh homemade Dahi or Curd, sprinkled with sugar after
your afternoon lunch.
Dinner was
often rounded off between 8 pm to 9pm in the evening and our dinner at Jhusing
Home Stay ended on a sweet note with the rustic Dhakane.
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DHAKANE |
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DHAKANE |
It is a sweet dish made
with rice, ghee, sugar and milk. As told by Mr. Bedu Dhakal of Jhusing
Homestay, the rice is first fried in ghee till it turns reddish in colour. Then
it is cooked in milk and sugar till the liquid has evaporated and the rice is
cooked fluffy and sweet. Each spoonful was light and warm with a lingering aftertaste
of the delicious homemade ghee.
Churpiko Achaar is another specialty which is
often served with breakfast or lunch, made with light curd and red chilies; it
offers a hot and creamy aftertaste. The organic curd or cream is boiled and
then the top layer of the curd is skimmed and hung in a cloth till all the
liquid runs out. The light curd thus formed is ground with tomatoes, red chilies and seasoned with salt and sugar. We got a taste of this deliciousness
both at Jhusing and Mulkarkha Homestay.
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| CHURPIKO ACHAAR |
Along with
the Ghee and the Churpiko Achaar, no meal was complete without their salads,
made with an assortment of farm fresh vegetables and tossed with light curd or
cheese and seasoned with spices. Mr. Lalit Poudyal’s family at Golsimal
Homestay, Lingsey made sure that we consume enough of the nutritious veggies in
the form of those delicious salads. No meal at Lingsey was complete without those
tasty and crunchy veggies. Be it rice, roti or chicken - Salad was a must.
One of the
things which intrigued us most was the local alcoholic beverage called Chhaang.
It was offered to us at Tagathang by Mr. Tikaram Chettri who is the elder
brother of Mr. Raju Chettri. Along with the warm hospitality and tasty food he
also offered us this heart warming and thirst quenching drink. Chhaang is a
local beverage made with Rice, barley or Millet. The one offered to us was made
with semi-fermented seeds of millet and was filled with red coloured seeds of
some local fruit. It is generally served in a Dungro and is drunk with a narrow
bore bamboo tube which acts as a straw. It is repeatedly topped off with warm
water and consumed at room temperature. It has a very low alcohol content and
tastes like a cross between Beer and Wine, never the less, yumm. Mr. Tikaram
Chettri even filled up a bottle with the strained liquid and told us to consume
it during our trek to replenish our energy levels.
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CHHAANG in Dungro |
We will
never forget the taste of the fresh and delicious local produces which were
offered to us, ever so generously. We extend our thanks to everyone at Lingsey , Jhusing, Tagathang and Mulkarkha who made our adventurous and gastronomic journey so memorable.
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MILLET |
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LOCAL BEANS |
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TREASURE of LINGSEY ECO TOURISM |
