3 food items with name and pictures of ladhak
Answers
Answer:
Thukpa is a much-loved classic of Ladakhi cuisine. It is a clear soup with vegetables and noodles made of wheat or barley flour. This dish also often contains meat such as pieces of chicken, mutton or yak. Thukpa is customarily served with spicy “chutney” to further enhance the taste. There are multiple versions of this noodle soup and all kind of savoury ingredients can be added for a subtle blend of flavours.
Thukpa is one of the most consumed food in Ladakh and it is very popular in other regions of the Himalayas too. It is available in all local restaurants in Leh at a budget price and it is the perfect dish to keep you warm in winter.
2. Momos
Ladakhi food, Momos
Arguably the most famous dish in Ladakh, momos are dumplings originating from Tibet which are generally stuffed with minced meat, vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, spinach) and cheese. Momos are either steamed or fried (be prepared for this tough choice at the time of ordering!) and they are usually served with chilli sauce and a soup as an accompaniment.
Momos are cooked in a traditional steamer called “Mokto”. It is a metal container with water at the bottom and several compartments on top of each other with holes for the steam to circulate. Momos are often shaped like a lotus flower or like a crescent. Momos are not only popular in Ladakh but also in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal… They are always part of the menu during special celebrations.
You feel like to eat something sweet? A few restaurants in Leh have even started serving chocolate momos for dessert. Not really traditional but worth a try!
3. Skyu
Ladakhi food, Skyu
Skyu is another traditional soup-based Ladakhi speciality. It is a stew made with barley or wheat dough kneaded into thumb-sized flatten balls. It is slowly cooked in a pot with water, meat and root vegetables such as potatoes, turnips and carrots. This mouth-watering dish is often prepared in villages and its recipe has remained unchanged for centuries. This heavy and high-calorie food containing energy in the form of carbohydrates is a favourite during the cold winter months when the temperature in Ladakh falls to below freezing and for those doing trekking.
In villages, it is also habitual to include fresh milk as a main ingredient. In that case, the dish is called oma-skyu, “oma” means “milk” in Ladakhi language. A particularly tasty variant that you must try if you have the opportunity.
4. Tingmo
Ladakhi food, Tingmo
Tingmo or Timok in Ladakhi is a steamed Tibetan bread that is eaten with dal, cooked vegetables or meat. It is staple food for the people of Ladakh, similar to white bread or “baguette” in French cuisine. Tingmo is a soft and fluffy plain bun made from white flour and it does not contain any filling. It is best when served hot (after having been steamed for around 15 minutes) and it goes very well with stews. Tingmo is very similar to the Chinese “Hua Juan” (also known as Flower Bun or Mandarin Rolls). Tingmo is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is a favoured tea-time snack too.
5. Chutagi
Ladakhi food, Chutagi
Chutagi is a famous pasta-like dish with a rich vegetable-based sauce. This is one of Ladakh’s signature dishes and every local restaurant in Leh has its own secret Chutagi recipe. “Chu” means “water” in Ladakhi and “tagi” means “bread”. Therefore, the literal translation of “Chutagi” is “water-bread”.
Chutagi is a delicacy consisting of bow-tie-shaped pieces of dough cooked in a thick soup made of potatoes, carrots, peas, and local leafy green vegetables (similar to spinach). A non-veg version of this dish with meat is also very common. A delicious Ladakhi culinary speciality which is very nutritious too!
6. Chhurpi (Yak cheese)
Ladakhi food, Chhurpi (Yak cheese)
Yak cheese, “Chhurpi” in Ladakhi, is made from the milk of the domesticated yak called “dzomo”. A dzomo is actually a hybrid between a yak and a cow. The female of this crossbreed produces nearly three times as much milk as a female yak.
Chhurpi is white in colour and the taste is mild, similar to Italian ricotta. There are two varieties of Chhurpi: soft and hard. Due to a scarcity of vegetables and fruits in Ladakh, this traditional cheese is widely consumed. It is an essential ingredient of the local people’s diet because it is a main source of vitamins and proteins. Chhurpi is found with all kind of food in Ladakh such as thukpa and it is used as a filling for momos.
7. Butter tea
Ladakhi food, Butter tea
Butter tea is a traditional pinkish beverage of the Himalayan regions. In Ladakh, butter tea is also known as “gur-gur chai”. Its particularity is that yak butter and salt are added to the