Bhutan -- By Chef Kunal Kapur

Bhutan -- By Chef Kunal Kapur

With HH Queen Mother Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk

This was my very frist trip to Bhutan and am sure wont be the last. I never really planned for a visit to Bhutan and frankly not many in India really plan to visit there, not the ones I know for sure. But when I had this opportunity to talk and present my debut cookbook “A chef in every home” at the Mountain Echos, India Bhutan Literary Fest 2014 I could’nt say no. I had a fair idea about where the country is but I had to look up on google to find out where exactly it is. This beautiful country is towards the eastern himalayan belt with Tibet in the north and rest all covered by India with a close proximity to china.

Thinking that with such neighbouring countries the people, cuisine, place and culture will be quite predictable and similar. I like to travel and it would be great to visit the festival and the country and with this on mind I packed my luggage for 3 days. Druk airways the national carrier was comfortable and meals on board were nice and warm. Minutes before the arrival at the Paro international airport the scenic beauty was mesmerising. Across the clear sky you could look at the mighty Himalayas with gleaming ice. It was a sight I had never seen before and I could not lift off my eyes.

First step out of the plane and I could feel the change in the air, fresh, cold and energizing. Paro international airport (the only international airport in the country) is very quite, almost no announcements, no flashy stores, no fancy eatery which was rather amusing because I am used to seeing the hustle bustle and chaos in an airport. My brain had difficulty adapting to such silence which other wise is constantly looking for simulation. It took a while for the adjustment but I felt so much at peace, right then I knew this place was different.

The drive from paro to Thimphu (capital and largest city) takes about an hour through scenic views of the valley. Roads are superb compared to bumpy joy rides in India that I am used to.  Half way through the journey I look out of the window of the car I see open blue sky, green hills, long stretches of roads, people walking, fewer cars, smiling faces, infants tied to the back of the mothers, rice fields, simple houses, nothing looks fancy and no one is out there in a hurry. I had to stop the car at a beautiful spot to soak up a little of Bhutan in me. As I sat on the milestone I met a gang of young kids walking back from school. Thanks to Masterchef India a lot of Bhutanese people watch the show and getting recognised by the kids was easy. The boys shared a lot about the place, told me places to visit, things to do and what to eat in Bhutan. I must have spent some odd 30 mins with them that were full of silly jokes, sharing and playing: All of it that I used to do as a kid.

We checked into Taj Tashi a 5 star hotel that was warm and beautful and feeling refreshed I wasted no time and headed to the Indian embassy for the start of the Mountain Echos, India Bhutan Literary and Arts Festival 2014. The ceremony was very entertaining with live performances, song and dance from both the countries. Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck opened the ceremony and her speech on how Bhutan is a happy place was heartening. At one point in her address she said, “Every advancement comes with a price, there is a limit to which Mother Nature can handle change. We in Bhutan and all the Bhutanese people care for the Mother Nature first and then us.” I thought this must be part of the speech but what surprised me was when she said that in Bhutan we do not measure GDP but GDH. Gross Domestic Happiness is what drives us.

For any chef the best investment is to travel. And now that I was in Bhutan I took keen interest to discover the local cuisine, understand the culture and the arts. So next day early morning I set out to the market. As I walked through the market I found out that almost everyone I saw was wearing their national dress a “Kira” for Women and “Gho” for men. I mean difficult to spot someone in jeans and trousers. Also what was amazing is the besutiful display of colour and art on each and every house, shop or market that I went to. There is a sense of art and colours that flows into the clothes they wear and the houses they live in. Beautifully hand painted corridors, windowpanes and doors looked magical. Colourful cloths printed with prayers hang at every nook and corner and every road and hilltop.

What I was again happy to experience is that people are calm and friendly No honking on the roads, no rush rush, no people trying to push things on you as a tourist. People don’t have plenty but are smiling and no one in a hurry to reach somewhere. Good part is the roads are kept clean, no litter and people keeping their place clean themselves. This just reminded of what the queen mother said about how much Bhutanese people cared for their surroundings. All that speech started to make sense to me. Bhutan is not a developed country nor is a very rich state but the people are the biggest assest because they care about their home and that is what matters. I am sure we in India can learn a lot form this small country.

After a long walk back to the hotel I decided to visit some place important in Thimphu. My driver instantly drove us to bhuddha point. It is one of the worlds largest statues of a sitting Buddha on top of a hill. The climb was easy and the view was awesome. The golden coloured 169 feet tall statue on top of a hill is a spectacular sight. What I understand is that they are still giving final touches to the area around to prepare it for larger gatherings. But it’s worth the visit to the top to sit and just gaze into the valley.

It was time for lunch and I already had an invitation to eat and learn Bhutanese food at the house of my driver Chana Dorje. He was kind enough to have me at his humble home and savour meal cooked by his wife. I was told that Ema Datshi is somewhat like the national dish of Bhutan. What probably butter chicken is to Indian cuisine is Ema Datshi to Bhutan. Simply ema means chill and datshi means cheese. So the dish is litereary fresh green chillies cooked with cheese. Shocking!!! At his home I was served homemade rice wine which was very sweet and had a strong resemblence to the fresh toddy that I know of in the south. Some puffed rice and corn is also had as an all time snack. There were sounds of food cooking in the kitchen and I could not resist myself seeking permission to enter the kitchen and cook along. His wife was more than happy to allow me to stay in the kitchen and cook with her. The kitchen had a peculiar meat smell and in an adjoining small room to the kitchen I saw pork and beef kept on wooden hangers for drying. It’s a slow process and Bhutanese do this for winters. For lunch I learnt ema datshi and upon my request she removed the seeds and the stem inside to make a milder version. I made potato datshi, we cooked pork with dried chillies, chicken stew and buttered fiddle head ferns.  It was an amazing experience to be a student again learning from a new home chef and learning new food that I had no clue of. My next meal was at the Royal palace of Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck and I was ready for some royal cuisine of Bhutan.

I was a royal guest so to honour the people of Bhutan I wore the traditional dress of Bhutanese men called “Gho”. I had help from the Taj Hotel in drapping me with the dress. I had never worn anything like this before where my legs are exposed and would be required to sit appropriately. But I managed to pull that off and the Queen Mother was happy to see me with the Gho on. I have to admit that the spread at the palae was royal but the preparation style was the same I had at my drivers’ house. I could feel the love and attention gone into the food and thanked god for this opportunity.

On my subsequent visit to the gastronomic scenario of Bhutan I discovered that red rice is a staple and few places would make buckwheat pancakes. A large sized gol gappa looking bread which they called poori was being sold at a roadside market.  Bhutan loves chillies. Almost every dish is made using a different variety of chilly. Meats are usually boiled with chillies, onions, tomato, ginger and garlic and served straight with rice. Pork, beef, chicken and yak are the preffered meats and rice, corn and buckwheat grows in abundance.

Another interesting discovery that I made is the use of local yak or cow cheese. Almost everyehere I went I had these beautiful cheese vendors selling air dried, smoked or fresh buttery cheese. On my visit to the vegetable market I personally found the produce to be fresh and organic. Good quality asparagus, pumpkin, fiddle head fern, beans and variety of chillies are a must buy. I have to admit for the first time I held fresh schezwan pepper at this market.

Bhutan does a local beer by the name red panda that has a very refreshing taste and newer joints are opening up offering yak burger, though momos (esp pork) and thukpa is a national favourite. One can be spoilt for the choice of mushrooms Bhutan has to offer ESP a very high grade of Chaterelles and Morrels.

I also discovered what a prayer wheel is. It a small round wheel that is held in a hand and rotated clockwise always. As the wheel rotates one can silently recite the prayer in his mind. The wheel has inscriptions and prayers written in it and can be used while meditating. Then there are these giant prayer wheels in monestaries for the same reason.

One of the places that you cannot miss in Bhutan is the Tiger’s nest that is a monestary that is protruding out of a cliff on top of one the highest hills in Paro. It’s a long trek 2 hrs one side if you are used to trekking or about 3 hours with a lazy body type like mine. The air is clean and the place is well maintained. Surprisingly so many tourists but no litter at all. The trek gets difficult in the last half hour when the climb is steep followed by hundreds of steps down and then up again. It’s a test of strength and will power. But once you cross all that, the sense of achievement takes over. It’s a difficult trek and the view is breath taking. All you need to do there is just be there and gaze into the nature from that high.