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Recipes with dried jimbu

3 recipes that use dried jimbu, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Mustang aloo, takes 30 minutes. It is most often cooked with timur, turmeric and dried red chilli.

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Thakali kalo dal

Trekkers on the Annapurna circuit meet Thakali food in the guesthouses of Marpha, Tukuche and Jomsom, and the dal on the brass Thakali plate is the dish they remember: whole black lentils simmered until creamy in a heavy iron pot, then finished with ghee crackling with jimbu, a dried Himalayan herb that tastes like a cross between chives and garlic. A pinch of timur adds a tingling citrus note. It is thick, smoky and deeply savoury, eaten with rice or buckwheat dhido, gundruk pickle, potatoes and a fresh tomato achar, and refilled until the guest says stop. Skip the overnight soak and you will taste it, because the lentils never turn creamy. Chef's tip: once the lentils are soft, mash about a quarter of them against the side of the pot with the back of a ladle, which gives body without any cream.

70 minNepaliCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mustang aloo

The potatoes grown in the thin, cold air of Upper Mustang around Lo Manthang and Kagbeni are small, waxy and famously sweet, and Thakali lodges along the trail serve them simply: boiled in their skins, squashed, then fried in hot mustard oil until crisp with dried chilli, jimbu and a generous crunch of timur. The dish arrives sizzling on a small plate, eaten as a snack with tea, as a starter, or as the potato side of a Thakali set. It is spicy, tingly and earthy, with soft, fluffy centres and crackling skins. Avoid crowding the pan, which stops the potatoes from browning and leaves them greasy. Chef's tip: let the boiled potatoes steam dry for a few minutes before frying, and press each one lightly so it cracks open and gives more crispy edges.

30 minNepaliSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sisnu ko jhol

Sisnu grows wild along every terrace wall and trail in the middle hills, and before vegetables were easy to buy it was the green that kept villages going through the dry season; Rai and Magar families still pick the tender tips with tongs or with a cloth wrapped round the hand. Cooked, the sting disappears completely, leaving a deep green, silky soup that tastes somewhere between spinach and seaweed, thickened with a spoonful of cornmeal and seasoned with garlic, chilli, jimbu and timur. It is poured over rice or eaten with dhido, and many Kathmandu restaurants now serve it as a proud reminder of hill cooking. Never handle the raw leaves bare-handed; the sting lasts for hours. Chef's tip: wear rubber gloves until the nettles have been in boiling water for a minute, and pick only the top four to six leaves of each shoot.

30 minNepaliSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with dried jimbu