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Dal bhat is the national dish of Nepal, consisting of rice (bhat) and lentils (dal) cooked with seasonings. Other dishes such as vegetable curry and achar are usually served with it. Ghee is often added to rice, and lentils are soaked before cooking with seasonings such as onions, garlic, turmeric, and cumin. The meal is presented on individual divided plates, and sometimes includes a meat dish.
Dal bhat, lentils and rice, is the national dish of Nepal. Bhat, rice, is white and simply cooked. Dal is lentils cooked with seasonings in a kind of thick soup or stew. Most Nepalese eat dal bhat every day, often twice a day. Other dishes such as vegetable curry are usually served with rice and lentils, but “dal bhat” is still used to refer to the whole meal.
Bhat is the rice part of Dal Bhat. Nepali rice is white and for dal bhat it is boiled or steamed. Written recipes typically call for basmati rice or long grain white rice. In Nepal, ghee, a type of ghee, is often added to rice. If ghee is not available, butter can be substituted.
Dal refers to both the legumes used in the cooked dish and the dish itself. Although the word is commonly translated into English as “lentils”, dried beans and peas are also considered dal and are sometimes mixed with lentils when cooking dal bhat. The Nepalese people distinguish between black and yellow based on the color of the lentil used.
Typical dal recipes call for briefly soaking the lentil before cooking. Sometimes pressure cooking is also recommended. Lentils cook very quickly, however, both soaking and pressure cooking are probably more important in Nepal and other high altitude areas where cooking takes longer because the water boils at a lower temperature.
Seasonings for dal can vary, but the most common are onions, garlic, turmeric, ginger, chillies or chili powder, and cumin. Some of the seasonings, especially those that are dry powders, are added to the lentils as they cook. Onions, garlic, chiles and whole spices such as mustard seeds are fried in ghee or oil and stirred into the cooked lentils before serving.
Apart from dal bhat, most meals also include curried vegetables called tarkari and achar. Tarkari can be as simple as curried spinach or it can include a range of items such as potatoes, cabbage, carrots and green beans. Achar is usually translated into English as “pickle” but is a spicy plant-based condiment that more closely resembles chutney. The entire meal is usually presented to those eating on individual divided plates with part of each food placed in its own area. At a more elaborate meal, a meat dish is served along with the vegetable dishes on the same plate.
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