Enjoy what you eat: A Hidden Treasure of Flavor

What comes to your mind when I ask you to name the two biggest cuisines in the world? Ones which you can find in any corner of the world. The first one undoubtedly would be "Chinese". I have found Chinese - All you can eat buffets in the remotest areas of the country. I am sure if Neil Armstrong had walked a little farther on the moon he would have either found a Chinese Buffet place or a Punjabi Dhaba. Ah yes, that brings me to the second biggest cuisine in the world - Indian.Some may argue Italian or Thai could be considered a 2nd place contender but thats not what I call the biggest cuisine in the world. My metric(funny how I like that word ha...) is not merely the number of restaurants that serve these cuisines or the number of people who eat them - which by the way would be the highest looking at the population numbers of these two countries. What I refer to solely when I say biggest cuisines in the world is the wide variety of flavors that they produce in their dishes right from "Kashmiri Pulao" to "Szechuan rice". Italians may produce a large variety of pastas or bread, but unless they can do varieties of dishes from a simple ingredient like eggplant, bamboo shoot or coconut, paneer, soya without using them as pizza toppings I would have to go with Indian and Chinese to be the 2 biggest cuisines in the world hands down. The most delicious thing about these two cuisines is that despite of being so close geographically (on a world scale) they manage to bring such distinction in almost every entrée that they make.

But step back a little, my Blog is not about these two cuisines. Does'nt it often happen that a talented and deserving entity sometimes gets lost under the shadows of a bigger- universally acclaimed object. No no I am not talking about office politics here. I am still sticking to the core of this Blog - Food. A small family owned diner sometimes gets lost between a TGIF and Chilli's of the same street. A "matar paneer" dish sometimes gets overlooked with "kadai paneer" and "Shahi paneer" recipes on the menu. This state of forgotten "perfectly savory" entities always makes me wonder, why keep them on the menu if no one cares about them. That is till you try them. A masala daal made by a good cook can change the way you look at lentils for ever. It makes you appreciate the real hidden treasure of flavor lost in the big banner of royal dishes on the menu.Taking this same concept to a bigger and global level, there exists a cuisine that is lost under the big banners of the two biggest cuisine of the world. This cuisine which at first glance shows close resemblances to Indian and Chinese cuisines really shines out to be really unique when experienced first hand. The cuisine which dares to shout out for independence from being categorized as "similar to Indian - Chinese" food is Nepalese cuisine.

One fine day a mindless jaunt to San Francisco led me to this small shack like restaurant called Shangri-la on Lombard and Divasadero. Wondering whether to stick to my favorite "Naan & Curry - Indian" or "Grand Oriental - Chinese" I rambled into this place having the same doubts in my mind which one would have when entering a English - dubbed in Hindi movie in an expensive multiplex. One look at the menu and I said to myself - huh changing names of Indian dishes to local dialect does not change the dish itself. Calling good old "Tandoori Chicken" as "Poleko Kukhura" does not confuse the chicken on the stick. Calling "Chinese dumpling" as "Himalayan Momo" is not unique either. With a biased mind and a dissapointed heart, I order my metric for food (The Poleko Khukhura) and the Momo expecting to get a whiff of Indo-chinese blend.

Ten prejudiced minutes later I get served with what still looked Indo - Chinese food. However at taste of the Momo and the Khukhura changed my outlook completely. It was the most unique taste I have gotten from a chicken in a Tandoor. The authenticity of the flavors and the humongous difference boggled my mind. No matter how much I tried I could not connect either dishes with India or China. I was amazed how Nepal being surrounded by Such big superpowers when it comes to food still maintains a distinct and pleasant difference in its food. Enthralled, I wanted more - so we order the Khasiko Pakuwa (Lamb curry) and Daal Misuwa (Masala Daal - Priti's metric for food :-) ). Again we were amazed at the subtle but unique differences in the dishes from Indian food. The Misuwa on the menu read "Mixed Lentils, beans cooked with tomato, onion, garlic, ginger and spices" Had all the same ingredients as Masala Daal but one- "Spices". That and the preparation method completely changed the taste of the resultant dish. Now, dont expect to taste like a whole new world of food, after all the base is - lentils, but the subtle differences in taste and spices used will really make you wonder whether it actually is daal.

Dont take my word for it....go try it yourself. The best dishes to order are Himalayan Momos for sure (vegetarian), Bhanta Tarkari (Eggplant curry) and Poleko Khasi (Tandoori Lamb).