Natural Roots

📚📍Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to offer a copy of The Lekhali Cookbook to the Allard Pierson library in Amsterdam. This institute in the Netherlands is world-renowned for its vast collection of gastronomical books and to have our book on Himalayan food culture included there is so immensely meaningful for us and the wider community. We hope that our contribution gives recognition and better visibility to the rich food heritage that has been preserved and shared by the indigenous women with whom we have worked for this book.

While at the library we also had the good fortune to be shown a fascinating selection of rare cookbooks published in the Netherlands over the centuries, the oldest dating back to the 17th century. Many thanks to the librarian IJsbrand van Dijk for making this possible and sharing his knowledge with us.

CPF Department for Culture, Media and Sport British Council Nepal

On our recent travel, along the highway of central Nepal, we came across one of the best fermented gundruk ko achar. Clearly, it had been fermenting slowly over time and served coated in spices with traditional pairing of soybeans in this thali set, it was delicious.

Wonderful to find traditional knowledge and skills in use by didi in the kitchen. You can find more fermented food recipes in our Lekhali cookbook📚🌿

🏔️📚Food culture of the central Himalayas. Looking at food in the region reveals important aspects of community life. Preparation of traditional foods such as momo (dumpling), blood sausage (ghinti or rakti) Mustang, kru in Manang is rarely a solitary activity, instead it is a social occasion when community members gather to strengthen bonds and share feeling of generosity and reciprocity. Recently, Binti Tamu spoke about these broader ideas within the context of origin of momo with Kunjal Smithsonian Magazine

Further reading here:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/a-history-of-momo-the-dumpling-that-defines-nepali-cuisine-180988395/

Picture 1: Photo exhibition of 'Preserving Indigenous Food heritage of Nepal' in Nairobi, Kenya (July 2025)
Picture 2 & 3: Book launch 'The Lekhali Cookbook - Indigenous Food Heritage from the Highlands of Nepal', Nepal Academy in Kathmandu (February 2026)

This week finding some lovely niuro (fiddlehead ferns) from which the Gurungs in Lamjung make Leu Tha. You can find the recipe of the curry in The Lekhali Cookbook. Additional seasonal goodness includes edible flower of mountain ebony (koirala ko phool), figs (young buds of kabro) from which women have been making pickles.

Some glimpses from the launch of our book The Lekhali Cookbook: Indigenous Food Heritage from the Highlands of Nepal.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all those who joined us on this celebratory occasion at the Nepal Academy in Kathmandu:
Resham Gurung, Chairperson of the National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities
Tek Bahadur Gurung, historian
Rustom Mody, British Council Nepal Country Director
Nhooja Tuladhar, British Council Head of Arts
Nabha Basynat Thapa, UNESCO Nepal
Indu Tharu, indigenous writer
As well as the young volunteers and the family and friends who supported us through thick and thin.

But most of all, we were honoured to have the presence of the women of the Ama Samuhas who collaborated with us for this project and who travelled all the way from the villages in the highlands to take part in this celebration of the indigenous food knowledge of which they are the custodians.

This book is now available at some of the bookstores in Kathmandu. We also provide delivery of the book within Nepal. If you would like to order the book, do get in touch with us.

आज देखि संसारमा यो पुस्तकले आदिवासीको खानाको सास फेर्ने छ। The cookbook is out in the world. May this book make visible the heritage around us that for too long has not been recognised. A heartfelt gratitude to all those who came to the launch today, old and new friends who have been with us in this food journey and who have seen many difficult layers of our work over the years. Hope you enjoy the book and the culinary creativity of the women in the highlands.

After the launch of the book, taking the women of mothers on a short pilgrimage in Patan and ending with a feast of indigenous Newari cuisine.

in partnership with British Council Nepal

For many years now we have been nurturing the knowledge around food and the role of women in the food production process. In this process, many conversations and dialogues have taken place, and so has vast amount of readings and many nights of silent reflections. After all this, we are so delighted to bring the stories and recipes from the indigenous communities in Nepal and more specially from the indigenous women whose knowledge and expertise have continued to remain hidden and unacknowledged.

We are so excited that this precious knowledge is now accessible in a written form for the first time for future generations.

This endeavor has been possible due to the support received from the cultural protection fund from the in partnership with the UK Government Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DMCS).

Tamu Lhosar: Today, Lhosar is being celebrated by the many Tamu people across the country and within the diaspora community worldwide. According to the Tamu calendar, today marks the beginning of a new year and a shift in the annual lho.

In the towns and cities, a festive gathering is organised with food stalls and musical programmes, to which everyone is welcome. Historically, there was also the practice among the Tamu people to go for a forest picnic called स्योकै (shyo kain) in Tamu language. Many Tamu also refer to this as स्योकै खाने. At this time, people go to the forest and harvest yams and taro, which they enjoy with their families and neighbours.

Pictures of wild yam harvest in Gorkha.