Ayla: A Feast of Nepali Dishes from Terai, Hills and Himalayas
SynopsisPlot
he rich and diverse flavours of Nepal have often been overshadowed by the noise of cuisines from neighbouring countries, India and China. Popular chef and MasterChef: The Professionals finalist, Santosh Shah, is here to set the record straight and put Nepali cuisine firmly on the map with his first cookbook, Ayla. Featuring 60 flavoursome recipes, home cooks can experience Nepali and Himalayan cuisine in their own kitchens, with dishes inspired by the produce of Nepal's rivers and mountains. Alongside Santosh's own stories from the country, he shares the history of certain foods, from zingy chutneys and traditional chicken momos to mouthwatering wild mushroom soup.
Story
About this book
Ayla is the first cookbook by Santosh Shah, a chef who reached the final of MasterChef: The Professionals. It gathers about 60 recipes from Nepal, arranged around three geographic bands of the country: the lowland Terai plains, the middle hills, and the high Himalayan region. Shah grew up in Nepal and has cooked professionally in Britain.
Nepal lies between India and China, and its cooking is often folded into the traditions of those larger neighbours. Shah presents Nepali dishes on their own terms, from chicken momos and sharp chutneys to wild mushroom soup. The recipes are tied to the rivers and mountains that supply their ingredients, with notes on the history behind particular foods.
Alongside the cooking instructions, Shah includes stories from his own life in Nepal. The south to north structure links climate and terrain to what people grow and eat: the subtropical Terai along the Indian border, the temperate middle hills, and the thin air of the high mountains, where different grains and foraged ingredients appear. The dishes are written for home kitchens rather than professional ones.
