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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Kathmandu Head Chef Jivan Tuladhar whips up palunga ko sag, a lightly cooked spinach dish, which is one of the restaurant's most popular items.
Nepali cuisine makes inroads in U.S. culture
By Kelle Schillaci
Despite being tucked nonchalantly in an inconspicuous strip mall on Homestead Road, Bishnu Thapa's family-owned establishment boasts the distinction of being the first restaurant on the West Coast to feature the cuisine of Nepal prepared by an authentic Nepali chef.
Though the dull exterior boasts little more than a prime view of McDonald's, Kathmandu West's interior is a subtle, quietly ornate homage to the strip of land from which Thapa and his family departed more than a decade ago. Images of the Buddha decorate the wall space in tapestries, wooden fixtures and homemade Nepali artwork. Framed posters hanging between lit wall candelabras advertise the tranquillity and beauty of the vast Annapurna Mountain Range and lush Pokhara Valley.
"Most people know of Mount Everest," Thapa says, explaining why authentic Nepali food is still a rare delicacy here in the United States. "But they do not know Nepali cuisine."
Completely surrounded by looming mountain ranges, Nepal's seclusion is the prime factor in its unique cuisine. In fact, when Thapa first decided to open a true Nepali restaurant there were only two other such restaurants in the country, one in Boulder, Colo., and the other in Madison, Wis.
Nepali recipes rely on fresh spice combinations and less on heavy butter and oils. The result is light, delicately seasoned dishes.
"Nepali is similar to Indian cuisine," Thapa says, citing the similarity in prime ingredients: potatoes, lamb, cauliflower, cumin and classic lentil-based daal. Mostly, it is the technique that differs.
House specialties like the Chhuayala (grilled lamb marinated in mustard oil, spices and green onion) and the Palungo ko Sag (lightly cooked spinach) represent tasty flavor combinations unique to Nepal. A healthy spoon-shovel of the thick, rich chicken curry over jasmine rice is a testament to the regional culinary genius. Another Nepali staple is the array of more than a dozen "pickled" items, featuring nibble-sized bites of spicy asparagus, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans and peanuts.
"We keep the menu small," he says, "so we can concentrate on each dish, using the best quality ingredients."
The restaurant is celebrating its seventh anniversary in Cupertino and Thapa is always looking for new business he says. Thapa is always eager to extol the virtues of authentic Nepali cuisine to anyone willing to toss aside westernized food-notions and dig in to the sizzling-hot, prawn-heavy mismas sekuwa, or kwati, a spicy bean dish specialty of the Newari people of the Kathmandu Valley.
Like the region itself, the cuisine of Nepal is now cresting a wave of popularity. Many Nepali restaurants have opened in the time since Thapa brought his monumental business into Cupertino, but with classic dishes, quality ingredients and a very friendly and attentive staff, Kathmandu West continues to delight both its slew of regulars and anyone hungry for a tasty meal.
Kathmandu West Cuisine of Nepal is at 20916 Homestead Road, Cupertino. Hours are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner. Weekend dinner hours are Saturday and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. For more information, call 408/996-0940.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
