Apr 2001 Volume 82 Number 4 "serving the protectors"
Nepalese cuisine comes to SA By Jason Squire

Sagarmatha is a Nepalese word meaning “the summit over the sky”. It is also the name used by the Nepalis for that gigantic mound of dirt and rock called Mt Everest. But for South Australians, it is the name of the “first and only” Nepalese restaurant in Adelaide, according to owner, Deepak Bista.

Himself a Nepali, Bista has the unique ability to make you feel at ease as soon as you enter his restaurant. His slice-of-watermelon smile makes you feel as if you are entering his home. The surroundings are warm and inviting. The smell of incense lingers in the air, together with the sounds of Nepal to soothe the senses.

My partner rarely lets me go near a spicy restaurant: she is a slave to the cuisine dominatrix called Italian. So, with great pleasure, I tasted genuine Nepalese cuisine. With Nepal snugly surrounded by Tibet, India and China, the food promised to be diverse and interesting. Bista informed me the menu was evolving to meet demand and gently introduce the cuisine to uninitiated South Australians.

The menu has South Asian dishes by names such as kukhurako masu (butter chicken) and samosa. But it also has what was described to me as quintessentially Nepalese - daal, bhat, masu ra sag. This is a platter containing a lamb, goat or chicken curry with rice lentils, stir fried spinach and achar (pickled and spiced horseradish). As with most cuisines from ancient cultures, the meal is best enjoyed by eating small portions of various dishes. It allows the flavours to smash together in one’s mouth to make the dining experience far more enjoyable than the solitary dish and rice experience.

My partner and I love this style of eating and always “share” our meals whenever possible. Our choices for entrée were momo (Nepalese dumplings) and misayko, which is an entrée platter. The platter was fantastic. It contained curry puffs, samosa and momos.

I had been longing to get stuck into a hot curry, and this was my main course choice. Called the Sagarmatha hot curry, it lived up to its name. The curry was flavoursome and not overpowering. The emphasis was on spice complexity, which created natural spiciness rather than simple piles of chilli.

We also had a vegetable curry of dhal, potato, beans and Nepalese spices, and a prawn curry cooked with lime curry sauce, capsicum, onion and coriander. Both of these were fantastic. Indian curries can be sloppy, but the Nepalese equivalents were neater and really spice driven. Both of these were worthy of seconds.

As with most curry meals, we couldn’t look at dessert. But on offer were kheer – Nepalese rice pudding – and ice cream and rato mohanl (described as a sweet prepared from milk soaked in sugar syrup).

Sagarmatha has a takeaway service which is up to 20 per cent cheaper than dining in the restaurant. The restaurant also offers banquets and movie deals, making the choices endless.

Where:	Sagarmatha Nepali Restaurant, 62-64 Payneham Rd Stepney. Ph: 8363 6291.
Entrée:	$4.50 - $6.50.
Main course:	$11 - $15.50.
Dessert:	$4.50 - $5.
Wine:	$15.90 - $28.

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