G-n-L Ganesh and Lauren

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Nepalese Cookbook

Friday, 26 February 2010

It has been a long time since I've written here... I do apologise! It was an exciting weekend of bike riding over the West Gate bridge, cycling with the Banyule Bug and helping out at the Sustainable Living Festival last weekend, and of course work has been rather interesting of late... but no more excuses! I'm writing to update you all on the progress of the Nepalese Recipe Book!

After weeks of cooking up a storm in the kitchen we've honed in on a few winning recipes including (in no particular order):

Daal Bhaat
Chickpea, Spinach and Tomato Curry
Asparagus Bhutuwa
Lamb Quantee (Lamb with bean sprouts)
Paratha with Vegetables
Lamb Sekuwa
Gajar ko Halwa (Carrot Pudding)
Mahendranagar Samosas
Vegetable Pulao
Tarkari (Mixed vegetables)
Creamy Coconut, Cauliflower and Lentil Curry
Quick and Easy Potato and Zucchini
Chicken, Broccoli and Tomato Curry
Tibetan Momos
Beans and bamboo shoot curry
Lamb Curry
Shikarni (Apple, Cinnamon and Honey yoghurt)
Kheer (Rice Pudding)
Banana Chiya Bread
Chiya (Spiced Tea)

Unfortunately I'm still missing some good recipes for chow mein, thukpa, laddu and achar... Not to mention a guide to hosting your very own Nepalese Dinner Party! If you have some suggestions, know of anything vital that I've missed or can help me convince G to call his mum for help please let me know :-)

Labels: cooking, nepal, recipes

Google's 10^100

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Ganesh has gone off to Nepal for 3 weeks to see his family for dashain... This means that I am manning the fort alone for the immediate future. I wasn't absolutely thrilled to discover this occurring right at the same time the chooks have gone broody but my mood got a mega boost when I discovered that the project I suggested to Google's 10^100 was one of 16 chosen out of 150 000... apparently a few other people had the same idea, but my sentence made it to the project page:

Create an online educational platform that provides free training and education as part of a worldwide, officially accepted degree

If enough people vote for the idea it will be implemented!! Wow!! I'm really excited about the possibilities :-) Please vote here to ensure the project is a success!!

Vijaya Dashami everyone!

Labels: education, ganesh, google, ideas, nepal, travel

Nepalese youth leading the way

Friday, 11 September 2009

Seeing Nepalese youth make it into the mainstream newspapers all over the world really gives me a warm fuzzy glow inside. In spite of all the adverse circumstances, an 18 year old Nepalese boy name Malin Karki has worked out how to replace silicon with human hair in solar panels, thus making renewable energy much more affordable - where it's needed most!

Malin and his friends managed to produce a prototype for a mere $38 that could charge a cell phone or a battery pack... Mass produced the sky is the limit and the hair, which is also a renewable resource, can be replaced - extending the life of the cells. It's absolutely inspiring what a single thoughtful person can do!

(Ganesh has placed bets that Malin attends the same school as his brother Ram!)...

Labels: nepal, renewable, solar

God of the Earth...

Saturday, 6 June 2009

There are few times in life when you can be so stupefied by a story that you start to question the nature of things... While this story doesn't quite fit into that category for me, it did for all the villagers and Ganesh's brother, Ram, who experienced it first hand - and of course I'm starting to be swayed!

Ram recently went home to his place of birth - a small village in Nepal called Dadheldura for a special ceremony - sapthah. This is a seven day festival dedicated to worshipping the family God, Bhumiraj (yes! I wish I grew up with a family God too!)... The ceremony was a success and the family God acknowledged that all went well and promised to look after the family. At the same time Ram and another boy from the same village had their 'coming of age' ceremony - bharta bhanda - where a scared thread is placed around the chest and must be worn at all times. The other boy's father had said he would provide meat for everyone to celebrate the occasion, however the celebration rapidly expanded into a combination of 12 villages and he had to pull out...

The celebration was looking like it was going to be meatless, when out of the blue a deer leapt from the roof of Ram's family's place and committed suicide! There was enough meat for everyone in attendance.... Strangely enough the house is in the middle of the village surrounded by other houses, the village itself is surrounded by rocks and desert and there hasn't been a deer sighting in those parts in living memory!

I'm told that in order to give thanks to Bhumiraj, we say:
dain vaya pravu
rakshya arai mati

Thank-you for looking out for the village and the family!

Labels: culture, god, nepal, religion

Happy 2066!

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Happy Nepali New Year 2066! I can't believe it's been just over 6 years since I first went to Nepal. It seems like just yesterday. Celebrating the new year in Nepal was more about having a good long scrub on the first day of year and preparing yourself for the year ahead... though western style celebrations have become increasingly popular. I wasn't sure how to acknowledge the festival all the way over in Oz so this post is a tribute to the occasion, and to everyone from Nepal!

May your year ahead be full of everything you hoped for! :-)

Labels: happy new year, nepal

Travelling rewards

Friday, 6 March 2009

You wouldn't know it from my blog entries, but I have become a published author! My long term dream of being a travel writer for Lonely Planet has been fulfilled... Next step, a best selling novel :-) Seriously though, this all came about because occasionally, during rare moments of inspiration, I submit reviews and blue lists to Lonely Planet - 2 of which are published in the Kathmandu travel section of this site..

Today I received an email from Lonely Planet regarding the next edition of the Nepal guide book... Not only will my 2 blue lists be published, but so will my restaurant reviews :-) Exciting! Though looking back through some of them I start to cringe at my somewhat misguided attempt to wax lyrical:

"Amidst the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu, the constant and fascinating noises of sweet talking street sellers, rattling rickshaws and dry dust or humid heat, Pilgrims remains an idyllic retreat, untouched by the outside world. Soothing strains of meditational music play softly as you peruse a library of hidden treasures, discovering the lost side of the Nepalese culture. Nothing restores your faith in humanity like a sweet cup of Pilgrims nepali chiya whilst you pour your way through novels surrounded by an ocean of pillows. Slightly more expensive than the going rate but well worth it for the ambience."

I'm now very much looking forward to China for new experiences to write about and a way to 'earn' my trip! Off the beaten path here we come! :-)

Labels: author, lonely planet, nepal

Fairytale comes to life...

Tuesday, 9 December 2008

In what appears to be a straight out of a fairytale or fable, Ganesh's cousin's brother's son today appeared after 6 years missing! In an incredible turn of events, the boy everyone thought was dead is very much alive... And while it's not quite amnesia, it's pretty close. The boy went missing from his family home at the tender age of 15. Somehow he ended up in India working for a corrupt man who paid him nothing and wouldn't let him leave. The working conditions were appalling and he ended up being severely injured by metal from a passing truck... This left him in hospital recovering for almost 3 years... and now somehow he's made his triumphant return to his family in Nepal. The details are a bit sketchy, but this is even better than 'the boy under the tree' - the famous Nepalese boy who had been sitting under a tree in a prayer like meditative state for 6 months without food or water... (Ok, that one turned out to be a hoax - but this is very much a reality!)...

Labels: boy, fairytale, missing, nepal