Food, eating habits and cusine of Bhutan

The staple foods of Bhutan consist of rice, buckwheat and maize, and its diet, of pork, beef, yak meat, chicken and mutton. Since rice is the only crop cultivated in the country, the dishes usually contain rice in two varieties such as red and white. The red rice, however, is used in the rural areas, while the white rice is popular in urban centers. The rice-based delicacies include desi, a tasty mixture of white rice, sugar, butter, saffron and raisins, and zow or fried rice, which is also a mix of rice, sugar, butter and oil seeds. This is said to be a favorite of the King, and is served on special occasions. The Bhutanese even eat rice with curry at breakfast and dinner.

Bhutan’s traditional dish is called ema datsi consisting of spices, cheese and chilies, which dominate most of the Bhutanese foods. The other traditional dishes include kawa-detsi, which is made of potato, cheese and chili; shama-datsi, a mixture of mushroom, cheese and chili; matar paneer, which is cheese and curried peas and also a north Indian dish; cheese momo, which is a small bun containing cabbage, cheese and onion; khuli, which is a buckwheat pancake; puta, buckwheat noodles served with curd; and kharang, dried corn kennels coarsely ground.

Although each region has its own specialty, the Bhutanese have a common dish of steamed rice with choices of curries for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food lovers. This dish is usually spicy and hot. International and Chinese foods are also served among the standard hotels in the tourist areas, and in restaurants in urban centers.