Ingredient guide
What these recipes use that your usual shop may not stock: what it is, where to find it, and what you can put in its place.
ara (grain liquor)A clear, traditionally home-distilled spirit from fermented grain, usually rice, made in Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan; mildly sweet and grainy.1 recipeBloodFresh animal blood, in the Himalaya usually from yak, sheep or goat, which sets when heated and gives sausages and pan dishes body and a deep, iron-rich flavour.1 recipeBok choyChinese leaf cabbage with fleshy pale stalks and dark green leaves, mild with a faint mustardy note.2 recipesBuckwheat flourFlour ground from buckwheat, grey-brown, with a nutty, slightly bitter taste and no gluten; available in health food shops, organic stores, larger supermarkets or online.1 recipeCardamomGreen seed pods of a plant in the ginger family, with a cool, floral, resinous aroma.3 recipesceleriacThe thick, knobbly root bulb of the celery plant, with firm, creamy-white flesh and a strong celery flavour once peeled.1 recipeChilli oilNeutral oil in which dried chilli flakes have been toasted and left to steep, hot and faintly smoky. It is sold in Asian grocers and now often in well-stocked supermarkets.2 recipesCilantroThe fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a strong lemony, slightly soapy aroma.10 recipesCoriander leavesThe fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a strong, citrusy, herbal aroma.1 recipeDaikon radishA large white winter radish, juicy and crisp, mildly peppery raw and soft and sweetish when cooked.6 recipesdried beefAir-dried strips of beef, lightly salted or unseasoned, hard and chewy, with a concentrated meaty flavour.2 recipesDroma rootsDried tiny root tubers of silverweed from the Tibetan highlands, barely the size of a fingertip, with a sweetish, nutty flavour.1 recipeGaram masalaA North Indian blend of toasted, ground spices such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and black pepper, warm and fragrant rather than hot.4 recipesGheeClarified butter, cooked until the water and milk solids separate out; nutty and suited to high heat.2 recipesGround chickenMinced chicken meat, usually from breast and thigh; sold chilled in supermarkets or at the butcher, though not everywhere.1 recipeMung bean starchA fine white starch made from mung beans that, cooked with water, sets into a clear, firm and slightly springy jelly.1 recipePaneerUnsalted, unripened fresh cheese made from milk curdled with acid and pressed into a firm block that does not melt when heated.1 recipePotato starchA fine white thickener made from potatoes that sets sauces and batters clear and glossy.1 recipeRed riceRice with a reddish-brown bran, in the Himalaya mostly a semi-milled short-grain rice from Bhutan; nutty and slightly sticky.3 recipesRice flourFinely ground rice, gluten-free, used for batters, flatbreads and thickening.1 recipeRice vinegarA mild, slightly sweet vinegar made from fermented rice.2 recipesSaffronDried stigmas of a crocus that give dishes a golden colour and a bitter-floral aroma. Sold in small tins in the spice aisle of larger supermarkets, often cheaper and fresher in Turkish, Persian or Indian grocers.1 recipeSausage casingCleaned animal intestine, usually from pig or sheep, used to hold sausage filling.1 recipeSesame oilOil pressed from sesame seeds, either pale and mild from raw seeds or dark and strongly nutty from toasted ones; the dark kind is usually on the Asian shelf of the supermarket, the pale kind more often in health food shops or Asian grocers.1 recipeSichuan pepperDried husks of a citrus-family shrub, not a true pepper. Lemony and floral, with a tingling, numbing effect on the tongue.10 recipesTamarind pasteThe sour, fruity pulp of tamarind pods, pressed or cooked down into a dark paste.1 recipetsampa (roasted barley flour)Flour ground from roasted barley, the staple food of Tibet. It is already cooked and is eaten without further cooking.1 recipeYak cheeseA semi-hard to hard cheese made from the milk of yaks or yak crossbreeds, as produced in Nepal and Tibet; mild, nutty and fairly rich.1 recipe