Nepali delicacies- you might not want to ask how they made that!

On my first few trips to Nepal i didn't struggle with the food. I ate anything they put in front of me. I am a big believer in eating local and the abundance of veg options made it easy for me to eat without to many problems. 

As i became less of a tourist and started eating with my Nepali family... well the last few weeks i was there i was reduced to eating cheese balls, two minute noodles, eggs and nutella sandwiches. The more i saw how things where made, where ingredients came from and how it is prepared the less hungry i was!

I watched the news and saw a story on how local dairies have been mixing milk with other liquids in order to increase products. This was a bit gross but when i saw footage from inside the dairy, unhygienic doesn't even begin to explain.

I walk past those butchers with the meat sitting in the sun all day and then when i get home there is the meat sitting on the kitchen table. No refrigeration, no covering, no concerns about flies, no cleaning... No way i am eating that. And they cook everything, bones, stomach, head, it all goes in the pot and onto the plate. 

Someone explain Gandruk to me. My understanding is you get some plants let them rot in the sun for a week or two then you put it in a jar, seal it up so it can get nice and moldy and then you feed it to your family?

Then i read this about Momos, i love momos. Bamboo, ferns, moldy plants, i am refusing to eat anything else that is considered a special Nepali dish! 

I made this: coffee coloured butterfly cakes

My cooking confidence has recently taken a battering. I admit I can't cook Dal Bhaat. When I make tea i always let the milk boil over. I never put enough chili in anything. Basically when it comes to producing anything in a Nepalese kitchen I am rubbish. 

But do not fear my children won't starve, I am able to report that it has been confirmed (by my mum, I may need an independent verification) that i am a "really good' Aussie cook. I love cooking, but most of my specialties involve an oven and a kitchen stocked with more than a pressure cooker and a fry pan. 

Anyway yesterday i dusted of my apron and baked these delicious coffee flavoured butterfly cakes. I don't care if it is rude to sing your own praises, these cakes are the best thing i have eaten all year. My mum and i ate four yesterday and i am trying not to finish them off before she returns from work. 

So in case your interested the recipe goes a little something like this:

Mix 3 teaspoons of instant coffee powder with 1 tablespoon of hot water with 125g butter (I used cooking margarine) in an electric mixer (or whatever you use to beat cakes).  Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and beat until creamy. Add and mix 3/4 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed, i cup of self raising flour, 1/4 cup of custard powder. The custard powder gives it an extra special taste. Beat in 1/3 cup of milk, adding slowly or you will get lumps. Lastly add two eggs, one at a time. Beat on high until smooth.

You can cook in patty cases and make 12 small cakes or cool in a 20cm ring case. Bake in moderate oven for 30 mins. When cooled top with coffee flavoured icing and BAM the best cakes ever!