What Is Nepali Food?

The dish that will make you a regular

Momo are steamed dumplings filled with minced meat (chicken, buff, pork) or vegetables. They're served with a fiery tomato-sesame dipping sauce called achar. In Nepal, momo are the ultimate street food — in Australia, they're the dish most Nepali restaurants are known for. Order jhol momo to get them dunked in a thick sesame-tomato broth — this is the Kathmandu way.

The national meal — filling, balanced, deeply satisfying

Dal bhat is Nepal's everyday meal: steamed rice (bhat), lentil soup (dal), seasonal vegetable curry, spinach, and a small pickle (achar). It's the dish every Nepali grows up eating twice a day. In a restaurant it often comes as a thali — a round tray with small bowls for each component. Dal bhat is comfort food in its truest form: simple, wholesome, and surprisingly complex in flavour.

Nepal's version of BBQ — smoky, charcoal-grilled meat

Sekuwa is marinated meat — usually chicken, goat, or pork — grilled directly over charcoal. The marinade typically includes cumin, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and timur (Sichuan pepper), giving it a distinctive numbing spice. It's served dry with onion and pickles on the side. If you like grilled meat, sekuwa is the Nepali dish that will surprise you most.

A warming noodle soup from the mountains

Thukpa is a hearty noodle soup that comes from Tibet and the high-altitude regions of Nepal. It's made with hand-pulled or wheat noodles in a rich, spiced broth — sometimes clear, sometimes thick — with vegetables or meat. It's warming, filling, and deeply satisfying on a cold Perth winter night. Less common than momo but well worth seeking out.

Traditional fried rice bread — crispy outside, soft inside

Sel roti is a ring-shaped fried bread made from a fermented rice batter sweetened with sugar and banana. It's crispy on the outside and chewy inside — somewhere between a doughnut and a rice cake. Sel roti is a festival food, especially made during Tihar and Dashain. Some restaurants serve it as a dessert or snack.

Spiced grilled meat salad — a Newar speciality

Choila is a dry, spiced dish of flame-roasted buffalo or chicken, mixed with mustard oil, fenugreek, timur, ginger, and garlic. It's a speciality of the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley. Served cold or at room temperature, choila works as a starter or side dish alongside chiura (beaten rice). Bold, aromatic, and unlike anything else.