Rohini Rana’s ‘Nepal Cookbook’: Rich flavours of commoners

Pushpesh Pant

Nepal conjures up visions of snow-capped peaks touching the sky, breathtakingly beautiful trekking routes passing through lush green valleys, terraced fields carved out of steep hillside, exquisite crafts and colourful fairs and festivals. Our landlocked neighbour shares so much in common with us that, at times, we tend to forget that this small nation is an inheritor to a resplendent cultural legacy that matches our own.

Sandwiched between India and China, this land is much more than the picturesque capital Kathmandu, enchanting Pokhara or the wildlife sanctuary in Chitwan. It’s a pity that even regular visitors to this land remain trapped in picture postcard imagery. Very little is known about its culinary treasure trove. Rohini Rana, an Indian princess married into one of the most illustrious and influential families of the ‘king-making’ Ranas, has come out with an absolutely stunning cookbook that includes 108 recipes that verily provide a unique introduction to Nepal.

To call it a cookbook will, however, be unjust. What the author has compiled is much more than a collection of recipes. The work has been conceived brilliantly. She has selected a few signature and some unknown dishes from the kitchens of all the major communities and regions. The artistic and food-loving Newars, the Chhetri-Bahun of the mountains, the invisible to outsiders tribal children like Rai, Limbu, Magar, as well as those who dwell in the high Himalayas, the Sherpas, not to forget the Madheshis who reside in the plains — all are encountered here. The aromas and tastes are evoked almost effortlessly in asides in crisply written and easy-to-follow recipes.

It may be noted in passing that this is a sequel to Rohini’s earlier bestselling coffee table book on recipes from Rana palaces. Interestingly, this time, she has chosen to focus on foods consumed by commoners, not the elite. Her husband served in the Nepalese army (rising to being the Commander-in-Chief) and in different parts of Nepal. The author had the rare opportunity to taste what can be termed the ‘riches’ of poverty, the satisfaction of sublime simplicity. The variations on the potato theme are just one example of this. The use of timul (Szechuan pepper) or jimbu (Himalayan chives from Tibetan pastures) raises Mustang aloo to another level. Aloo pyaaz ko raso is no less seductive than exotic non-vegetarian fare prepared from pork or mutton, using sun-dried stuff or employing fermentation. There are quite a few unusual combinations, like radish and mutton curried to enliven plain steamed rice. The section on momos is extremely engrossing. The reader is left in no doubt that the dumplings originated in Nepal and travelled along the Silk Road to Tibet and beyond, manifesting themselves in myriad avatars.

Rohini Rana wears her scholarship lightly. Rich nuggets dug out from archives blended with anecdotal oral history make for the most enjoyable reading. The menu celebrating Prithvi Narain Shah’s coronation is shared with the readers, as is the revelation that cauliflower was imported by Rana Jung Bahadur Shamsher, who had taken a great liking for this English vegetable when he had gone to meet Queen Victoria in England in the late 19th century.

The book has been laid out beautifully and the photographs compliment the words unobtrusively. The two-page spread that explains the auspicious number 108, through eight manglik symbols, forces one to dive deep into the history, myths and legends of Nepal.

Lavishly produced, this substantial volume can be treated like a magic carpet that can transport you at will to a many splendored land.