A Sumptuous Nepali Feast by the
Sherchans
Ever
since I have had my first taste of Nepalese cuisine at Restaurant Nepal a few
years ago, I have indeed have a penchant to savor the cuisine again.
Unfortunately, since Restaurant Nepal closed down, I have been missing the
cuisine dearly.
Mentioned
Nepalese cuisine and the first thing that comes to mind is momos. Yes, I am
talking about little dumplings with juicy filling, served with Nepali chili
sauce. Whether it’s steamed, boiled or fried, I’ll take it whatever I can get
my hands on because they are so yummy. There are more to Nepalese cuisine than
just momos and one thing’s for sure, the cuisine is never short on flavours.
When
the famous Fatboybakes aka Cheng Yi extended an invite to a
Nepalese Underground Supperclub, I was over the moon. Finally, a place to savor
Nepalese cuisine and a home cook one too! Hosted in the supperclub owners’
home, we were also pleased at the comfort of their home. It was spacious and
bright. Dining there that day was indeed pleasurable as well as memorable.
We
were just lucky to be able to savor The Sherchans' homecooking. Both were warm
and wonderful too with their humble hospitality. While Mrs. Sherchan does most
of the cooking, Mr. Sherchan has some mean dishes under his repertoire too. We
were lucky to be able to sample a variety of their signature dishes that will
be available in their supperclub menu.
Starting
out, appetizers and salad first. Sadeko
Badam, a spicy peanut salad that combines yummy ingredients such as
cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, chili, peanuts and herbs. Lots of textural
components, giving the dish a vibrant bite of fresh and nutty flavours with
hints of heat.
Pyazi, crispy onion fritters, are quite
addictive. Sweet slivers of onions fluffed in crispy spiced batter and fried to
deliciousness. It’s so good, I wish there was more…
Momos, who can forget these dumplings, not
me for sure. The Sherchans makes Pork
Momos. I can’t ask for anything better. Their momos were near perfection
for me. Thin skin beautifully pleated, encasing juicy and tasty pork filling.
Steamed till just right and served with a spicy sauce, these Pork Momos are
bombs of flavours. If they would sell these, I would gladly drive to their
house to buy these yummy momos.
That
spicy sauce was made from Dalle Khursani,
round cherry chili bombs of Nepal. Since I love a good kick of heat, I even
boldly savor this chili with my rice. I love my chilies from all over the world…
Pickled
Potatoes or Alu Ko Achar was lovely
for me. Well I am be a bit biased since I love potatoes and sourish flavour.
The potatoes are soft and creamy, beautifully spiced with a perky tang. Because
its quite tangy, it does makes the dish easy to enjoy although potatoes can be
heavy.
At
first I thought it was an anchovy dish and then after mixing it up, there were
lots of bittergourd in the Karela Ko
Achar. The bittergourd was cooked till soft and has robust bitter spice
flavours that worked well with the crunchy salty anchovies and bitey red
onions.
Mr.
Sherchan was in charge of the Gurkha BBQ
and both pork and chicken wings turned out to be a crowd pleaser. Both meats
were well-seasoned and chargrilled with nice caramelized edges. Served with
that awesome spicy sauce again, this is one BBQ that I wouldn’t mind eating
again. The pork was tender and flavourful with bits of fat that gave the meat
some moist and extra flavours. The chicken wings was decent as I prefer the
pork more.
And
then Mr. Sherchan whipped out the bowl of Gurkha
Pork Curry. I swear that everyone was salivating at the sight of this bowl
of pork curry. It’s his recipe and he cooked it a lot while working abroad. The
curry is dry and boasted of aromatic spices cleverly harmonious together. The
color is also enticing. The pork is not overly soft and has a good bite. The
control of heat and spice is just right here. Kudos to Mr. Sherchan…
Thakali Thali set is very popular in Nepalese cuisine. Served
on brass plates and bowls, it’s basically a full meal on its own with rice, meat
or fish curries, daal, vegetables and pickles. Since they haven’t gotten their
brass Thali serving ware yet, we had ours on regular plates. Since then, I
heard that they have gotten their brass Thali sets now so you lucky diners are
going to enjoy the Thakali set on the beautiful brass ware.
The
Sherchans really go all out. Look at the lovely platter of colors! I am hungry
just looking at this Thali again.
Kukhura Ko Masu is Mrs. Sherchan’s chicken curry.
Unlike our creamy version, this one doesn’t have any coconut or cream in it but
uses a myriad of spices to make up the flavours of the curry. Despite the lack
of cream or coconut, I do find the curry very enjoyable. It has delicate spice
flavours of cumin, fennel, chilies and other aromatics in the sauce and the
chicken is tender and tasty.
What
I really enjoyed was the Machha Ko Jhol
or Nepalese fish curry. The gorgeous tang and moreish flavours of mustard
shined with the fish. There is such robust notes of umami flavours with the
tender siakap as I kept lashing the gravy onto my rice happily.
Daal,
something Nepalese eat a lot, is also unique. It doesn’t taste like our Indian
daal but has nuttier notes and spices with the creamy lentils. I also enjoyed
this daal a lot with the curries and rice.
Other
yummies on the Thali are Alu Ghobi, Sabji,
Mula Ko Achar and a special Plum
Pickle that Mrs. Sherchan’s mother-in-law makes. That Plum Pickle is superb.
I hope she won’t run out of that anytime soon because that pickle is so good
with rice.
Alu Ghobi, potato and cauliflowers are also
nice cooked with spices. Tender cauliflowers with creamy soft potatoes with
green peas goes well with the rest of the dishes and rice. The Sabji of sautéed greens balance up all
the other proteins while the Mula Ko
Achar, a spiced radish pickle is quite tasty and unique.
Mrs.
Sherchan also makes a superb chunky Tomato
Achar so you’ll never know what you might get for your supperclub.
Dessert
was something simple, homemade yoghurt with almonds. This is so refreshing, creamy
and milky. Every spoonful was luscious with bits of nutty notes that made the
yoghurt even better. More of this yummy dessert Dahi please…
I
must say, this is definitely a lovely Nepalese supperclub not to be missed. It’s
cooking from the heart and the Sherchans did a delicious job with their dishes.
For now, its RM70 per pax for 3 starters, a Thakali Thali Set and a dessert.
Should you have any allergies or preference, do let them know. The menu for the
supperclub can be customized as well to include additional dishes.
Reservations
are required few days in advance with a minimum of 6 diners and a maximum of 12
diners.
For
more information and reservations, contact Cheng Yi at 012-3240988 or John
Sonam at 012-4152512.
