Dhal Bhat served on a popular stainless steel segmented tray.  This is more my kind of quantity, but typically a Nepali will have three or four times the rice.  I just can’t eat that much!

DBT or Dhal, Bhat, Takhari is the national Nepali staple combination. It means lentils, rice, and vegetables and is really a style of food rather than one specific dish.  I usually eat it a couple of times a week at the Embassy canteen on the Nepali staff side of the restaurant, and I have to say I really like it.  The same format of meal is served every day:  a thin lentil soup, a pulse or meat dish (although the meat part isn’t so standard elsewhere), a different curried vegetable, a pickle of some kind, poppadoms, raw vegetables and plain yoghurt.  But the mix of different pulses and seasonal vegetables/pickles are varied enough that I keep coming back for more.  However, my options are really the deluxe version.  Often Dhal Bhat is without the vegetables – just a simple thin lentil soup and a giant pile of rice. Thats as much cheap carbohydrate as possible to fill you up.

Maybe by the end of our tour here, I’ll run screaming from a Dhal Bhat menu, but right now its exactly what I want:  healthy, spicy,  lots of vegetables and a little pickly goodness alongside!