Kwati: Nepal's Nine-Sprouted-Bean Soup of Janai Purnima — A Complete Guide

Kwati is a spiced, brothy soup, or thin stew, built from a colourful medley of nine different sprouted legumes. It is one of the signature dishes of the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley, and over time it has become a pan-Nepali festival food cooked in Brahmin, Chhetri, Newar and many other households on the same day each year. Rather than a single fixed recipe, kwati is defined by its principle: nine kinds of beans and pulses, first sprouted and then simmered together into one pot.

The word comes from Nepal Bhasa (Newari), in which 'kwa' means hot and 'ti' means soup, so kwati literally means 'hot soup'. It is written in Devanagari as क्वाँटी. In Nepali the dish is also described plainly as नौ प्रकारका गेडागुडी (nau prakar ka gedagudi), meaning 'nine kinds of pulses', gedagudi being the general Nepali word for beans and grams.

What sets kwati apart from an everyday dal is both the sprouting step and the deliberate mixing of nine legumes, which gives it a heartier, chewier texture and a reputation as a strengthening, medicinal food. Although it is eaten mainly once a year around the Janai Purnima full moon, it is now offered year-round in Newari and Nepali restaurants and made at home as a wholesome, protein-rich soup.

The defining feature of kwati is that it uses nine different beans and pulses, all sprouted before cooking. The exact nine are not fixed: they vary by household, region and simply what is on hand, and in the weeks before the festival shops sell ready-made mixed 'kwati' packets that combine the legumes in the right proportions. A representative and commonly cited mix, with the Nepali names cooks use, is listed below.

The medley typically balances quick-cooking small beans, such as mung and black gram, with larger, denser beans, such as kidney beans and fava, so the finished pot has both a soft, brothy base and satisfying whole beans to chew.

Preparation begins days in advance because the beans must be sprouted first. The nine beans are soaked in water overnight, with tougher, larger beans sometimes soaked longer; some cooks and traditional accounts soak for as long as three to four days until sprouting begins. The soaked beans are then drained, wrapped in a damp cotton cloth (or left in a covered container) and kept in a warm, dark place for roughly one to two days, sprinkled with water now and then, until small white sprout tails appear. Sprouting softens the beans, makes them easier to digest and increases their nutritional value.

For the soup, the sprouted beans are boiled or pressure-cooked with turmeric until tender, then simmered with a masala of onion, garlic, ginger, cumin and chilli. The signature finishing touch is a tempering (jhaneko) of jwano, that is ajwain or carom seeds, fried in ghee or oil and poured over the pot. The ajwain gives kwati its distinctive aroma and is traditionally believed to counter the heaviness and gassiness of eating so many legumes at once, aiding digestion.

Kwati is served piping hot. It can be made purely vegetarian, or enriched with goat or buffalo meat and bones for a deeper, meatier broth, and is usually eaten with rice or beaten rice (chiura). Some households also make a drier, sautéed version of the sprouted mix rather than a soup.

Kwati's home festival is the full-moon day (purnima) of Gunla, the tenth month of the Nepal Sambat lunar calendar. Newars call it Gunhu Punhi or Gun Punhi, and because the soup is so central to the day it is popularly known as Kwati Punhi, the 'kwati full moon'. This full moon falls on Shrawan Purnima and coincides with the Hindu festival Janai Purnima, also observed as Raksha Bandhan. In 2026 the festival falls on Friday, 28 August (12 Bhadra, 2083 BS).

On the same day, Brahmin and Chhetri men bathe and change their sacred thread (janai), and people have a protective yellow thread (doro / raksha bandhan) tied around the wrist. Across the Kathmandu Valley, kwati is the defining food of the occasion and is cooked in almost every household, cutting across community lines.

The dish also carries deep agrarian meaning. The festival lands at the end of the monsoon rice-planting season, and farmers who had spent long days working in cold, muddy paddy fields ate the protein-rich soup to rebuild their strength and to ward off the aches and seasonal ailments of the damp weather. Kwati is often cited as a clear example of how Nepal's festival calendar, its foods and its farming cycle are woven together.

Combining nine sprouted legumes makes kwati one of Nepal's most nutrient-dense traditional dishes. It is a strong source of plant protein, which makes it especially valued by vegetarians and for helping weak or recovering people regain energy, and it supplies dietary fibre, complex carbohydrates and minerals and vitamins such as iron, potassium, magnesium, folate and B vitamins.

The sprouting step is central to these benefits. Pre-soaking and germinating the beans activates enzymes, reduces anti-nutrients such as phytic acid, and improves the bioavailability and absorption of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, while also making the beans gentler on the stomach than dry-cooked pulses. This is a large part of why kwati has long been regarded as a rejuvenating, medicinal food rather than an ordinary meal.

Traditionally kwati is credited with boosting immunity, warming the body, improving digestion and building strength, which is exactly why it is eaten at the damp, disease-prone turn of the season. The practical caveat is that it is very rich in protein and fibre, so it is best treated as an occasional tonic, commonly eaten only a few times around the season rather than daily, and the ajwain tempering is added specifically to ease the gassiness that a big bowl of mixed beans can cause.

Kwati tastes earthy, nutty and hearty, with a slightly chewy bite from the whole sprouted beans, warmth from ginger, garlic and cumin, and a distinctive savoury lift from the ajwain tempering. Its consistency ranges from a light, brothy soup to a thick stew depending on how long it is cooked and mashed. It is not fiery by default, and is usually served alongside chilli or a pickle (achar) for those who want more heat.

There are several common variations: a purely vegetarian version, and a richer one cooked with goat or buffalo meat and bones; a drier, sautéed style instead of a soup; and convenient ready-mixed sprouted-bean 'kwati' packets sold before the festival, which Nepali families abroad also use to make the dish far from home.

The most authentic time to try kwati is around Janai Purnima in August, when it is cooked in homes across the country and appears on restaurant menus throughout the Kathmandu Valley, from Newari khaja (snack) houses and eateries in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur to Nepali thali restaurants generally. Outside the festival it is still available year-round at many Newari and Nepali restaurants and remains a popular, wholesome home soup at any time of year.