Newar khaja trail through the old town

Khaja is the Nepali afternoon meal, and in the Newar quarters it means small plates eaten standing or on low benches. We start at around 3.30 pm near Indra Chowk with bara, a lentil patty fried on a flat pan, often topped with egg or minced meat. Next comes chatamari, a thin rice-flour crepe sometimes called Newar pizza, though it predates that name by centuries.

Then we sit down for a samay baji plate: beaten rice, chhoyla (spiced grilled buffalo), black soybeans, boiled egg, ginger and garlic. Brave eaters can try kachila, a raw spiced buffalo mince, or sapu mhicha, a leaf tripe stuffed with bone marrow. Vegetarians are easy to feed with bara, chatamari, aloo achar, bamboo-shoot soup and beaten rice.

We finish with juju dhau, the thick sweet curd made in clay bowls, and a glass of lassi or a small cup of thwon, the cloudy rice beer. Along the way we talk about where these dishes appear in feasts and festivals, and how families still make them at home for Yomari Punhi, Mha Puja and death anniversaries.