Food · Tumlingtar
A Rai home kitchen in the Arun valley
An evening meal cooked by a Rai family near Tumlingtar, with dishes such as wachipa, millet dishes and seasonal greens, and conversation about Kirat food, customs, festivals and the Sakela dance.
Many Rai families live in the Arun valley around Tumlingtar. Rai food is little known outside the east, and the best way to try it is in a home. Meals are built around rice or millet, with meat on special days, greens from the garden, fermented foods and strong pickles. Some dishes, such as wachipa, are made for occasions rather than every day, and every family cooks them a little differently.
We arrange the meal in advance with a family, who cook in their own kitchen over a wood or gas stove. Depending on season and the cook, you may eat wachipa, rice with minced chicken and burnt-feather powder; millet dhido; pork or chicken curry; and greens and pickles from the garden. Millet beer is often offered as a sign of welcome; you are free to decline politely, and no one will mind.
Over the meal, our guide helps the conversation along: Kirat customs, the Sakela festival and its circle dance, the role of the Rai priest, and how the valley is changing with the roads and the dams. Families are usually as curious about your life as you are about theirs. We pay the family directly for the meal and their time, and the evening ends early, as farming days start at dawn.
Good for
Questions
What is wachipa?
Wachipa is a Kirat Rai dish of rice cooked with minced chicken and a powder made from burnt chicken feathers, which gives it a bitter, smoky taste. There is a vegetarian version using bitter leaves. It is made for special occasions.
Can vegetarians join the Rai kitchen evening?
Yes. Tell us in advance and the family will cook vegetarian dishes such as dal, greens, millet dhido, pickles and the vegetarian form of wachipa where possible. Mention any allergies too, since chilli and dairy are common.
Is the Rai kitchen evening a staged show?
No. It is a meal in a family home, arranged in advance and paid for fairly. There is no performance and no costume. Families sometimes sing or dance at festival time, but we never ask them to perform for guests.
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