Nepali street food and snacks

The classics

• सेल रोटी Sel roti — a sweet, crisp ring of fermented rice-flour batter, deep fried. The festival food of Nepal, made in huge quantities at Tihar and Dashain. Best hot and fresh.
• चटपटे Chatpate — puffed rice tossed with potato, onion, chilli, lemon, spices and often crushed noodles, mixed to order in a bowl. Sour, hot, crunchy and completely addictive. Nepal's most beloved street snack.
• पानीपुरी Pani puri / golgappa — hollow crisp spheres filled with spiced water, potato and chickpea, eaten in one go. Ubiquitous and delicious — and the spiced water is the classic untreated-water risk.
• समोसा Samosa — the South Asian fried pastry, usually potato-filled, everywhere in the terai and cities.
• सेकुवा Sekuwa — meat marinated and grilled over charcoal, a speciality of eastern Nepal and now everywhere. Excellent with beaten rice and a cold drink.
• लाफिङ Laphing — cold, slippery mung-bean starch noodles in a fierce chilli, garlic and vinegar dressing, of Tibetan origin. Kathmandu's obsession of the last decade. Extremely spicy.
• वाइ वाइ सादेको Wai wai sadeko — instant noodles, uncooked and crushed, tossed raw with onion, chilli, lemon and spices. Sounds absurd, is excellent, and is what half of Nepal eats after school.
• आलु चप Aloo chop, पकौडा pakauda — battered fried potato and vegetables, the standard accompaniment to afternoon tea.

Regional specialities worth hunting

• सुकुटी Sukuti — dried spiced meat, chewy and intense, eaten as a snack or sadeko. Common in the hills and eastern Nepal.
• छुर्पी Chhurpi — hard dried yak or cow cheese, chewed for hours. A Himalayan trekking staple and an acquired texture.
• गुन्द्रुक Gundruk and सिन्की sinki — fermented dried greens and radish, made into sour soups and pickles. Nepal's signature preserved foods, born of storing vegetables through a Himalayan winter.
• तितौरा Titaura — sour-sweet-spicy dried fruit sweets, usually lapsi (Nepali hog plum). The classic thing to take home.
• युमारी and चाकु — Newar sweets around the winter solstice.
• Dhau — set curd, best in Bhaktapur as juju dhau.

What actually carries risk

• Higher risk: pani puri's spiced water, chatpate if the ingredients have been sitting, sadeko dishes made with raw ingredients and untreated water, cut fruit, ice, and anything with untreated water or raw garnish.
• Lower risk: anything deep fried to order (sel roti, samosa, pakauda), anything grilled hot over charcoal (sekuwa), anything steamed to order (momo).
• The turnover test beats the appearance test. A crowded, chaotic stall selling out constantly is safer than a tidy, quiet one where things sit.
• Watch how money and food are handled. Someone handling cash and food with the same hand is a reason to move on.
• Bring your own water. Never accept ice unless you know it is made from treated water.
• If you are trekking the next day, this is the wrong evening to experiment. Stomach illness plus altitude is the combination that ends treks.

Chiya and the snack ritual