A Traditional Bhutanese Meal - Made at Home

I wanted to recreate some of the amazing traditional recipes that we tasted in Bhutan. And when I say traditional, I don't mean the set menu that you get in the traditional restaurants in Thimpu. For me traditional means, the meal you are served in a farmhouse, following a farm-to-table concept. So if you are planning for a Bhutan trip and a farmhouse meal is not yet considered in your itinerary, then you better do because otherwise you will miss out on experiencing the charm of having food with the locals in their house with the ingredients they source directly form their farms. 

A traditional Bhutanese meal recreated by yours truly with as many sides as I could make in a single day! The meal I prepared today had the following items:

• Chili Potato Stir Fry
• Chicken with Bhutanese Chili Powder - Stir fry
• Asparagus Stir fry
• Brinjal stir fry
• Chili Onion Salad with Cheese
• Rice

All of these dishes take maximum 15-20 minutes to prepare and are super easy. I will have a separate series of blogs on the vegetarian and non-vegetarian Datshis that I made at home.

Chili Potato Stir Fry

Preparation Time : 5 minutes 

Cooking Time : 15 minutes 

Serves - 1 adult

Ingredients :

• Potato - 1 medium
• Bhutanese Chili powder / Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp * ( can be adjusted)
• Butter - 2.5 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste

Procedure :

1. Cut potatoes into thin flat shapes ( Refer to image) and wash them well
2. Now boil some water and blanch these potatoes for 2 minutes
3. Discard the water and separate out the blanched potatoes
4. Now in a pan heat 2 tsp of butter. Keep the flame on medium so as to not burn the butter. Once the butter melts, add 1/2 tsp of Bhutanese red chilli powder or any chilli powder.
5. Add the blanched potatoes and coat them in the butter chilli sauce. Add salt. Add Sichuan pepper powder ( optional). Cook this for 5 minutes till potatoes are done. You can add a little water if you feel the potatoes are sticking to the pan. And that's it, a super simple potato side to go with rice.
   
   
   

Chicken with Bhutanese Chili Powder - Stir fry

Preparation Time : 10 minutes 

Cooking Time : 20 minutes 

Serves - 1 adult

Ingredients :

• Chicken - 300 gm
• Bhutanese Chili powder / Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp * ( can be adjusted)
• Dry Red Chili ( whole) - 2
• Onion - 1 medium, sliced
• Butter - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste

Procedure :

1. Cut chicken on the bone into bite sized pieces. You can use boneless chicken too. Wash and keep the chicken aside.
2. Now heat some water in a vessel and add a spoon of salt. When the water comes to a rolling boil, drop in the chicken pieces. Let the chicken pieces be in the water for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and strain the water and chicken in two different bowls and keep the water aside, we will use it later.
3. Now heat a pan and add 3 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of refined oil. When the oil is hot, temper it with dry red chili. Once fragrant add the sliced onions and let it fry till pinkish.
4. Now add the boiled chicken pieces and 1 tsp of Bhutanese chili powder or any chili powder. Toss everything well and let the chicken fry for about a minute.
5. Now add about 1/2 cup of the reserved water and cover and cook. You can repeat adding a little water until the chicken is soft and cooked.
6. Now remove the cover and dry out any excel water till the oil releases.
7. Serve it hot with steamed rice. Best served with Bhutanese red rice.

Asparagus Stir fry

This asparagus stir-fry with garlic and butter is one of my favorite side dishes. Please note the Bhutanese version uses very tender spears of Asparagus which are in season in summer and tastes amazing.

Procedure :

Preparation Time : 5 minutes 

Cooking Time : 15 minutes 

Serves - 1 adult

Ingredients :

• Asparagus - 250 gm
• Garlic - 4 cloves, minced
• Butter - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste

Prepping

• You need to separate the tough ends of the Asparagus before you cook them. The easiest trick for this is to remove the white or pale green/pink part of each spear, then rinse the spears under water and pat them dry.  
• Asparagus cooks very quickly in the pan, so be sure to get your sauces ready before you start cooking the Asparagus. 
• Mince the garlic finely.

Cooking

1. Add refined oil to the pan and when the oil is hot, add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or two until it is fragrant. Add 1/2 tsp of chili flakes and toss in the oil. 
2. Next add the asparagus and salt as per taste. Stir every 30-40 seconds to ensure each side of the Asparagus gets enough time to be in direct contact with the hot pan. Cover and cook, the Asparagus will get cooked in its own moisture, but if you feel they are sticking, sprinkle a few drops of water in between. The Asparagus usually gets cooked in 4-5 minutes. 
3. When you are stir frying, you need to keep a close watch on the spears. Keep testing the spears during the cooking process, so you wont pull them out too early or you don't overcook them turning it into a mush.
4. Add 1 tsp of butter before finishing the dish, let the butter melt in the pan and coat the fried Asparagus evenly.

Transfer to a plate and enjoy immediately while they are still hot for the best taste.

Brinjal stir fry

Tender brinjals which have no/ very less mature seeds are best for this preparation. We saw these long and tender brinjals everywhere in their vegetable markets which were completely seedless. The local name for Eggplant/ brinjal is "Dolom".

Procedure :

Preparation Time : 5 minutes 

Cooking Time : 10 minutes 

Serves - 1 adult

Ingredients :

• Brinjal/ Eggplant ( preferably tender and thin) - 100 gm
• Rice Flour - 2 tsp
• Corn flour - 4 tsp
• Sichuan Pepper - 1/2 tsp, finely crushed ( Optional)
• Black Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt as per taste

Procedure :

1. Wash and clean the brinjals.
2. Cut the eggplants into thin long slices.
3. Now make a slurry of corn flour, rice flour, salt and Sichuan pepper powder ( optional) or black pepper powder. The slurry will be slightly runny in texture.
4. Heat oil in a wok enough for deep frying the brinjals.
5. Now dip each of the brinjal slices in the slurry so as to coat them properly and slowly slower them into the hot oil. Fry till the outer layer is crispy

Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Chili Onion Salad with Cheese

Procedure :

Preparation Time : 5 minutes 

Serves - 1 adult

Ingredients :

• Onion - 1/2 medium
• Green Chili - 1, chopped
• Tomato - 1/2 , medium
• Cheese - 20 gm or 1 slice
• Salt as per taste

Procedure :

1. Chop onions, green chilli and tomato
2. In a mixing bowl add the chopped onions, green chilli, tomato and add salt as per taste
3. Now crumble some cheese and give it a nice mix

Serve it with your Bhutanese meal.