Blah Bhat

Delicious Plate Of Endless Dal Bhat

Nepali food is cooked fresh and it’s delicious. We began our bike trip eating simply for breakfast; chow mein and samosas for lunch and either Dal Bhat or curry for dinner. I was sick the entire 4 days of cycling and had no appetite nor energy, so on day 4, we decided to have a hot breakfast before reaching our destination of Pokhara. We were served a deliciously huge breakfast of parathas (potato stuffed bread) and subjee (vegetables) and were reenergized for a hard day of cycling. From that day on, we began eating hot breakfasts, no matter how long it took for the restaurant to prepare (sometimes up to 90 min), and then dal bhat for both lunch and for dinner.

I started this trip sick of dal bhat (because I had attributed my week long diarrhea to my 1st meal in Nepal which was Dal Bhat) and now I love it. Dal Bhat literally translates to lentil rice. The meal comes served on a segregated metal plate and consists of a large amount of rice, a bowl of dal, subjee (a curried vegetable), spicy chutney and pickled relish. The best part of Dal Bhat is that it's Nepal's version of all-you-can-eat. One never leaves eating Dal Bhat hungry, let alone not stuffed.

Now I will explain how one eats Dal Bhat:

1. Pour the dal over the rice.
2. Mix up the rice and dal with your right hand (the left hand is used to wipe your bum, and is NOT to be used to shake hands, let alone to eat with).
   
3. Pick up soupy rice mixture with your right hand and eat.
   
4. Graciously accept seconds.
5. Repeat 8 hours later.
   

The good news is that according to one of the yoga books I picked up in Rishikesh, yogis should eat a diet consisting of dal and rice since it’s easy to digest. Thanks to both the squat toilet and a healthy diet of dal bhat, my digestion has completely changed.