There are certainly some places that give us a glimpse of heaven. We yearn to travel there to feel the serenity, picturesque beauty of nature, the peace that hovers in the air all around the place. Among many, Bhutan is one such, that is on my wish-list since I got married. After marriage we moved to the USA. We roamed here and there. But what we did most, was relive memories over foods. Yes, food, you hear it right! Staying far away from our native land we kept on relishing on the dishes to feel the touch of our mothers. Apart from it one dish that kept on budging in our life is ‘Kewa Datshi’. Repetitive requests kept on coming from the man to make the dish for him. He spent a few moons in Bhutan due to work. And the memories of the place and its food got embedded in his mind. I started to travel that place virtually through his memories several times. Recreating the tastes of the country without knowing the exact flavour, I tried to inhale the aroma of the place. The sun-kissed silver lined Himalayan Range, the Monasteries, the pristine beauty of nature every time became alive as I served a Bhutanese dish.
Now coming to Kewa Datshi. Kewa Datshi is popularly known as the foreigner’s delight. Because this is one the dishes that calls for less chilies unlike others and very light in taste. ‘Kewa’ means ‘Potato’ and ‘Datshi’ means ‘Cheese’. Though Potato was not very famous in Bhutan for a long time. It was not eaten by the locals as they believed in a myth that consuming potatoes might disturb their digestive system. Therefore Potato was harvested only to export. But slowly it became an integral part along with the other root vegetables. The Datshi cheese is famously known as Chhurpi, mainly found in southern Asia. This particular type of cheese is made out of Yak milk and available in two varieties – soft and hard. Most of the time you will see the natives carrying small cubes of hard Chhurpi and enjoying it as mini bites. Kewa Datshi is nothing but a potato cheese stew, where one can adjust the gravy thick or light and the copious amount of usage of chilies (like other Bhutanese dishes) can be easily restricted here.
I was doing a Palate TOur series with my friend Archita on Instagram. During this series when we virtual stop to Bhutan, my joy knew no bound. First of all it was on my wish list to travel to this gorgeous place, secondly I have heard about its food so many times from my husband that I have lived years tasting it it seemed. Enthusiastically I started to research and reading more about Bhutan and Bhutanese foods. The foods are very simple but tasty and call for less number of ingredients. Here I present the Kewa Datshi. More recipes will be added soon to the list.
This is my first post on #asiapalatetour for the Palate Tour series started by Archita and me.
