A tiny Himalayan kingdom that is best known for things like being great at archery and having no stoplights. Bhutan is the only country that measures GNH (Global National Happiness) alongside GDP. There are only 4 airplanes in the entire country, and they all belong to the national airline, Druk Air. There are no private planes for the royals or elected officials. One more interesting thing to note about Bhutan: there are a lot of penises painted on buildings! The penis is a symbol of good luck and hospitality, and some people think it wards off evil spirits.
I found it quite tricky hunting down authentic Bhutanese recipes as I kept coming across Nepalese & Chinese influenced dishes. Ema Datshi is the national dish and is a chilli & cheese stew. I opted to cook Momos (dumplings).
Ingredients
For the dough:
3/4 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
125g minced chicken breast
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 small chopped garlic clove
1 small piece of chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaf
salt & pepper
For tomato sauce:
100g tomato passata
1 small chopped garlic clove
1 small piece of chopped ginger
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper
For the dough, mix the flour and salt, then add oil and water and knead until it forms a ball
Cover and set aside for 30 minutes
Mix together all the filling ingredients in a small bowl
For the sauce, fry the garlic and ginger in oil over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Then add the tomato passata, salt, pepper & sugar and cook over low heat for 10 minutes
Use a pasta machine to roll out the dough thinly (up to setting 5 or 6) and then cut into 4-inch circles.
Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each circle and fold the circle in half, then pinch the edges to seal
Steam momos for 15-20 minutes in a bamboo steamer
A Year Cooking the World 