An Obsession with Nepali Fermented Radish Pickles (Mula Ko Achar) Encouraged by the Royal Nepal Restaurant

Sel Roti with Mula Ko Achar

My husband's aunt and uncle live in the Del Rey area of Alexandria, Virginia. They found a favorite new restaurant and were super excited to share lunch at the Royal Nepal with us. One of my favorite ways to start a meal is to break bread and the Royal Nepal seems to agree with me. A meal at Royal Nepal starts with a basket of sel roti which is kind of like a rice batter donuty funnel cake. It is sweet, chewy and most delicious with off set by some mula ko achar. At first bite my husband became enamored with these chili, turmeric and mustardy fermented carrots and daikon radishes. After a few bites he asked me if I could figure out how make these at home.

The Royal Nepal is a farm-to-table concept but has very refined aspects which many would not expect from an old strip center location. The three 
c0-owners of Royal Nepal come from some of DC's most well known restaurants, think Blue Duck Tavern, and the lessons learned in those locations are infused into the Royal Nepal. 

Goat Momo

You can chose from locally raised lamb chops, goat or wild boar or buffalo momo (dumplings), or delicious to duck confit fried rice. The polished wood tables are dressed up with colorful linens and the windows which wrap the restaurant are filled with mason jars full of fermenting mula ko achar. 
In order to fulfill my husband's gastronomic wishes I tried making mula ko achar and last night we ate some for the first time. Since he really liked it, I share with you the recipe I used.

mula ko achar

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large carrots
• 2 medium daikon radish
• 5 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup mustard oil (may substitute canola oil)
• 2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 2 teaspoon red chili powder (may add more or less per taste)
• 1 Quart Mason Jar

INSTRUCTIONS

1.     Cut daikon radish and carrots into pieces like small fries.

2.     In a large bowl combine salt, turmeric powder, daikon, and carrots.

3.     Arrange daikon and carrot pieces on a cookie sheet or cooling rack to draw out excess water out. I set my cooling rack in a cookie sheet on my dining room table in the sun for a few hours. Drain the excess water and pat dry with a paper towel.

4.     Transfer radishes and carrots into a bowl add oil, mustard powder, garlic,  and chili pepper. Mix well so the pieces are thoroughly covered with the oil and spices.

5.     Place mixture in the quart mason jar gently pushing between layers. Make it as compact as possible and remove excess air bubbles which may appear in between the layers.

6.     Allow jar to sit in the sun for at least 2 weeks, longer if you desire stronger and more sour pickles.

7. Once ready, store it in a cool place or in the refrigerator if you want to stop the souring process.

Aushak aka Afghan Ravioli

Gandana

One of my favorite Afghan dishes is aushak. They are essentially Afghan ravioli that are filled with leeks and a meat, usually lamb. It's usually served with yogurt mint sauce. This recipe has a cheat using store bought wonton wrappers instead of making your own dough. Some people confuse aushak to mantoo (mantu). The basic difference between the two dumpling dishes is that the aushak is boiled and served with a meat sauce on top while mantoo is steamed with the meat mixture inside the dumpling. You would think this is not a big deal but the meat is cooked differently in each recipe, which of course makes the dishes taste very different.

I was taught that aushak is traditionally filled with gandana which is a member of the onion family with a mild flavor and an appearance similar to leek or green onions. Although you can find gandana in some specialty markets, I substitute with leeks but I know other people who use garden variety green onions.

My father can be a bit of a picky eater but I thought I would make aushak as an appetizer one evening when I invited my parents over to dinner. I was happy to see my father gingerly take one to try, tried it, and immediately went back for more. 

Meat Sauce

1/2 pound ground lamb (you can substitute with ground beef or turkey)
1 finely diced onion
3 cloves of finely diced garlic
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
1 teaspoon finely diced fresh ginger
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup of water (you might not need it all)

Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add beef, garlic, coriander, mace, and ginger and saute until cooked. Add 1/2 a cup of water and simmer slowly until the water is reduced by half. Stir in the tomato sauce, add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for five more minutes. Add water if the mix starts to look dry. It should be thicker than spaghetti sauce but still have some moisture to it. Cover and set aside in refrigerator. The meat will absorb the flavors while resting

Yogurt Sauce

1 cup Mediterranean style yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients, cover, and set aside in refrigerator. You want to use a very thick yogurt for this. A Greek style yogurt would work well too, or take your favorite plain yogurt and drain it in a cheesecloth to thicken it.

Dumplings

1 package wonton wrappers

1 large leek or 2 small leeks, trim off the roots and the course dark green part of the tops, chop leeks finely.

1 handful cilantro (optional)
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten and mixed with a teaspoon of water

Using the filling very sparingly, I was able to use up almost an entire package of wonton wrappers. If you want to use up the whole bag and make more substantial aushak, I would multiply this recipe by 1.5. Combine all the ingredients except the wrappers and the egg. Let rest for ten minutes, then gently squeeze out the liquid. Put a teaspoon of filling on a wrapper, dab the edges of the wrapper with a thin layer of egg, fold the wrapper onto itself to form a triangle, and press firmly to seal.

The best way to ensure a tight seal is to press down one side of the triangle and then gently roll your palm over the aushak starting with the sealed side and over to the unsealed side. As you roll your palm over the aushak, gently squeeze out the air from around the filling, being careful not to squeeze more liquid out of the filling. Seal the other side of the triangle. Set on a lightly floured baking sheet, and repeat until you run out of filling. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap until ready to cook. You can also freeze the aushak on the tray, then put them all in a zip loc bag in the freezer for a few months.

Boil two quarts of water, slightly salted (a teaspoon or two should do it). Turn the water down to a gently rolling boil, and cook the aushak until translucent. If you're boiling fresh aushak made with thin wonton skins, it should take only two or three minutes. Frozen aushak will take up to five minutes. To serve, heat the meat sauce but not the yogurt sauce. Drain the cooked aushak and arrange them on a warm plate. Dab all over with both sauces (or make stripes) and serve immediately.

A Bistro Full of Worldly Food and Conversation in Bozeman, MT

As most of my readers/followers know, I enjoy good food, open-minded conversation, and culture. I was elated when I was able to find all of these in one spot in Bozeman, MT. Earlier this week, my husband and I traveled to Bozeman for a small vacation. I explained to my husband that Bozeman is an odd cross roads of Montanans, college students (MSU) who think they know everything, ski bums, tourists, Jews (largest Jewish population in the state), and the VERY wealthy (the Gates &  Timberlakes have houses in the area). So this mini-vacation should be interesting to say the least. Tonight we dined at South 9th Bistro.

Last night I got to eat some good food but had to overhear an impaired college student (you could smell the marijuana coming off him) try to mansplain (I say this because he kept hushing his female date when she attempted to engage in conversation about the topic) about how bad it was that Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as being the Capital of Israel and Zionism would be the downfall of humankind. When his date asked about his thoughts on the implications of Trump's acknowledgement in relation to the fact that it was the Brits who essentially decided historical land would be Arab (Palestine) vs Jewish (Israel), he shushed her and said she was politically incompetent.

I tell you this backstory because tonight I was able to enjoy upscale and delicious food while over hearing intellectual and open-minded conversations by both the restaurant personnel and customers. We started our evening by being hosted by the owner who was pleasant and ensured we understood that it meant a lot to him that we chose to spend our evening in his establishment. We were seated next to a lovely older couple who recently moved from Park City, Utah (but were originally from AZ and NJ) and considered the Bistro their "#1 place to eat in Bozeman." I was asked about where I got my my Sorel snow boots (it had snowed at least an additional 3-4" today) as her husband had been teasing her to get boots higher than ankle height.

So during a conversation that started over snow boots I learned about where they were originally from, where they just moved from, that they loved eastern Montana from years of attending horse sales, what their favorite foods were at the Bistro, and that the owner also baked the desserts for the restaurant (more on that later).

On the other side of the room I could here a table discussing llamas seen downtown that they took pictures of. They were in fact alpacas as my husband and I saw them earlier as well. They were ridiculously soft and I wanted to take home Cpt Jack Sparrow (the pirate colored one) to snuggle and make blankets from his soft coat.

The other nearby table of four was an interesting group of four, whose conversations, besides the food dialogue intrigued me. The Russian perceptions of the world which came from a man whose appearance said East Asian but whose accent said British. His understanding and first hand account of the USSR and Putin was interesting to hear. They also discussed the Arabic lands of the Middle East/Levant, as well as the British overtaking of the America's and it's impact on the "Indian People". Those conversations all happened while also talking about the wine, the lamb shank, the scallops, and beef bourguignon! It also happened in a polite polite and respectful way (unlike the prior night).

THIS my friends is why I love food! It is while engaging in the act of breaking bread and sharing wine where our human differences but most importantly our similarities become so apparent!

To be able to order perfectly prepared garlic buttery escargot from a waitress who could recommend Californian, Italian, or French wines from personal understanding and has an accent that ringed as if she was from either Ireland/Tasmania/South Africa with a bit of time in New York or New Jersey was just what my heart and mind needed. And the atmosphere of the Bistro told me it would be okay if I asked the owner or her where she was from. Her accent sounded of various locations, which to me meant a more vast experience in our amazing world.

Obviously a food blog has to discuss the analysis of the food as well so for those who are not into delicious snails...here goes. My husband ordered the 160z Cognac marinated ribeye with fresh made mac & cheese  and sautéed spinach. I ordered the bone in 22oz rosemary and red wine demi glace lamb shank with garlic mashed red potatoes and grilled asparagus.

The ribeye was ordered medium rare (the standard in MT) and had a buttery mouth feel. From an earlier post, my regulars know my husband has a thing for mac & cheese. He said this was tasty but had a bit of "tang" too it, so he asked me to taste. I could tell the cheese (at least tonight) was a bit nutty, had some white cheddar tang with some sweetness. My guess would be a Dubliner cheese. It is not a "typical" mac but none the less delicious. The spinach had a fresh green color and taste. My preference would be a squeeze of fresh lemon to the spinach to compete with the richness of the ribeye and mac. For me, richness is the nuanced intense flavour created by the properly cooked fatty ribeye or the cheese in the mac. So this nuance could mean that my want for lemon is unnecessary for others.

The lamb shank was cooked to perfection. The rosemary and red wine demi glace wasn't over powering so you could still taste the flavor of the meat, which to me is important. I am not a fan of soft asparagus and these still  had their crispness which I enjoyed. They were lightly coated in the olive oil they were prepared in with just a hint of salt and pepper. The potatoes were garlic creamy goodness.

Now for the desserts. They are hand prepared by the owner, Hank. We had a pleasant conversation about learning family recipes and keeping on those traditions through cooking and baking for others. When you taste the desserts you can tell they are prepared with a caring and appreciative heart. 

We ordered "The Black Beast" because my husband is an immense chocolate fan. For those who might be like me and not a fan of chocolate or marzapan let me tell you that neither were overwhelming. The flavors presented did not fight each other on the palette.

I would be remiss if I did not to tell you about the muffled oohs, aahs, & mmmms that could be heard from the other tables as they enjoyed their "Crack Tart", "Brioche Bread Pudding",  and the "Chocolate Espresso Mousse." 

If you are in the Bozeman area I highly recommend you make your way over to the South 9th Bistro.