Words from the Kathmandu valley
The Newar of the Kathmandu valley speak a language of their own, Nepal Bhasa, and keep a cuisine of their own – served cold, divided into many small items, each with its own name.
How to read it
- th, kh, ph, chh
- Single aspirated sounds, not f or sh: „thukpa“ is a t with breath behind it, „phaksha“ a p with breath.
- ch
- Like ch in „church“: „choila“ is „choy-la“.
- j
- Like j in „jungle“: „baji“ sounds „bah-jee“.
- Nepal Bhasa
- The language's own name. It is not related to Nepali – it belongs to the Tibetan family.
At the restaurant
| Newari | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| jwajalapa | jwa-ja-la-pa | The Newar greeting, palms together – used in the Kathmandu valley in place of namaste. |
| subhay | soo-bhigh | Thank you. |
| bhintuna | bhin-too-na | Congratulations and a festive greeting – above all at New Year, when samay baji is on the table. |
The festive platter
| Newari | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| samay baji | sa-may bah-jee | The valley's festive platter: beaten rice, meat, egg, beans, ginger – all cold, all side by side, nothing mixed. |
| baji | bah-jee | Flattened, roasted rice. Not a grain to be boiled but the dry base the platter is built on. |
| palu | pah-loo | Ginger, coarsely cut. It lies on the platter as an item of its own, not as a spice in a dish. |
Dishes
| Newari | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| chatamari | cha-ta-mah-ree | A thin rice-flour pancake topped with minced meat or egg. Often called „Newari pizza“ – a name from outside, not from here. |
| choila | choy-la | Grilled, sharply marinated meat, doused with hot mustard oil and eaten cold. |
| kachila | ka-chee-la | Raw spiced minced meat with hot oil – the counterpart to choila, and for the Newar the finer of the two. |
| bara | bah-ra | A fried patty of ground lentils, soft inside and crisp outside. With an egg on top it has a name of its own. |
| bhutan | bhoo-tan | Deep-fried buffalo offal. The name has nothing to do with the country Bhutan – a coincidence of transcription. |
| yomari | yoh-mah-ree | A steamed rice-flour figure filled with molasses and sesame. It belongs to the December full-moon festival and to no other day. |
Drinks
| Newari | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| thwon | thwon | The valley's cloudy, mild rice wine, served in bowls. It belongs with samay baji as much as the ginger does. |
| aila | eye-la | The clear home-made spirit of Newar households. Served in small bowls and never drunk on its own. |