Bhutanese Favorites

I wanted to end this week with the last of the Bhutanese recipes I'll be featuring here. The potatoes and the chili cheese casserole are two of the most popular dishes in Bhutan. I can attest to the fact that they are served every day, whether you are ready for them or not. The potatoes, called kewa datsi, are much like our scalloped potatoes but they are hotter because of the addition of red pepper.

Kewa Datsi - Bhutanese Potato and Cheese Curry

Ingredients:
4 potatoes, thinly sliced
1/3 cup of white cheese, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup of chopped red onions
1/2 cup finely chopped spring Onions
1-1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (vary amount according to your tolerance)

Directions:
1) Heat a medium pot over medium - high heat. Add oil to hot pot, followed by the potatoes, onions and salt. Stir them well for a couple of minutes untill potatoes start to sweat.
2) Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
3) At the end of 7 minutes, remove cover and check potatoes, which should be almost cooked by now. Add chopped cheese to potatoes and mix well.
4) Add chili powder. Mix well again. If dish is too watery cook a bit longer.
5) Serve hot with a generous sprinkling of spring onions and serve with fresh bread or red rice. Yield: 4 servings.

The chili cheese dish, called ema datshi, is almost unbearably hot, and should be approached carefully by all who do not breathe fire. Both dishes are easy to make and I thought the adventurous among you might want to give them a try. Here is how they are made.

Ema Datshi

Ingredients:
1/2 pound jalapeno chilies, sliced into 4 slices each
1 yellow onion, chopped
1-3/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 poundlb Danish feta cheese, cubed
3 leaves cilantro (optional)

Directions:
Combine chilies, onion and water in pot and add the oil. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic and simmer for 3 more minutes. Add cheese, mix and simmer for 3 more minutes. Turn off the heat, add cilantro if using, cover and let stand for a few more minutes before serving. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

                    

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Tibetan (Skillet) Flatbread - Mountain Kingdom Recipes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a soft and chewy bread that lends itself to preparation in the ovenless kitchens of Tibet. Most Western pallets find the bread underseasoned, so, if you decide to make it you might want to add a 1/2 teaspoon salt to the flour before mixing it with water. The bread stales quickly, so it's best to make only what can be eaten in one sitting. This is the second of the four recipes I'll be featuring on foods of the mountain kingdoms. The last two will be vegetable casseroles that I hope will be more appealing to Western tastes. Here is how this version of Tibetan skillet bread is made.

Balep Korkun - Tibetan Skillet Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Tibetan Home Cooking

Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup water

Directions:
1) Mix flour and a little water very well by hand and keep adding water until you can make a smooth ball of dough. Knead dough until it is flexible. Divide dough into 4 balls. Cover dough with a floured towel or plastic wrap misted with nonstick cooking spray. Let sit for 20 minutes. Roll each piece of dough into a circle about 1/2 to 3/4 inches high.
2) Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Heat until a drop of water sizzles when dropped in pan. Turn heat down to medium. Place dough rounds in skillet, cover with a lid, and cook for about 15 minutes, turning disks over every 5 minutes or so. Serve warm if possible. Yield 2 servings.

                    

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Himalayan-Style Curried Pumpkin Soup - Mountain Kingdom Recipes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Over the course of the next few days, I plan to share a handful of recipes from our recent Himalayan adventures. I must begin by telling you that people don't make this long journey for the food they'll be eating in Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. The food is very basic and what is served to visitors is repetitive, and most of the bland and tepid dishes are served buffet style. Ruth Reichl has been quoted as calling Bhutan's food "the world's worst cuisine." That's a bit harsh. I know she is at the top of her game, but when I talk about food from another country, I constantly remind myself that someone's mother has slaved over dishes I'm tempted to criticize and brush aside. That being said, while the food in Nepal is decent, that in Tibet and Bhutan tends to be bland because chilies, probably with good reason, are removed from dishes prepared for Westerners. One constant on our buffet tables was a dish called "chili cheese", a casserole made with yak cheese and fiery chilies. I tend to be an adventurous eater and I'll try anything once, but my first experience with chili cheese left me gasping for air and praying that St. George would appear and slay me before the fire I was breathing, torched the room. Soups, which we had every night, were on the other end of the spectrum and generally made with pumpkin or mushrooms that were watered down and desperately in need of seasoning. Dried meats are used throughout this area and they are difficult, if not impossible, to find in most state-side markets. For that reason, I decided the first recipe I wanted to share with you would be a simple soup made with pumpkin or yellow squash and ingredients you already have in your pantry. While you want to check the soup for seasoning before it is served, the spices used are typical of those used in the mountain kingdoms and the only liberty I've taken with the basic recipe is to offer a choice of coconut milk or cream. Coconut milk is not an ingredient used in the region, but I had a can of it and thought I could make good use of it here. This is a basic soup and very easy to make. If you are curious, here is how it is made.