Cooking Nepali food in Japan with supermarket ingredients

नेपाली

Dal bhat and momo are easy to cook in Japan. Supermarkets have the vegetables, meat and dumpling wrappers, and the many Indian and Nepali shops across Japan sell the spices and lentils.

Where to shop

The spice aisle of large supermarkets has cumin, turmeric and coriander powder. KALDI and Gyomu Super sell red lentils, basmati rice and ghee. Indian and Nepali grocery shops (often marked ハラール or インド食材) have mustard oil, timur and jimbu.

What to look for, and swaps

Momo wrappers
Dumpling wrappers (餃子の皮); choose the thick 大判 or もちもち type
Cumin, turmeric, coriander powder
Spice aisle at large supermarkets
Red lentils (masoor dal)
KALDI, Gyomu Super, Indian shops (レンズ豆)
Ghee
KALDI, Indian shops
If not: Butter
Mustard oil
Indian and Nepali shops
If not: Vegetable oil with a little mustard powder
Timur
Nepali shops
If not: Japanese sansho (山椒) or Sichuan pepper (花椒)
Jimbu
Nepali shops
If not: Garlic chives (ニラ)
Mutton or goat
Gyomu Super, Costco, halal shops
If not: Lamb (ラム肉) or chicken thighs
Basmati rice
KALDI, Gyomu Super, Indian shops
If not: Japanese rice with a little less water
Fresh coriander (パクチー)
Herb section at most supermarkets

Good to know

Tomato achar for momo: blend roasted tomatoes, garlic, chili and a pinch of sansho.
A pressure cooker or rice cooker makes dal in about 20 minutes.

Ingredient guides

Turn any dish into 3 steps with what Japanese shops sell

Lazy Recipe sees that you're in Japan, picks swaps from Japanese supermarkets, and your shopping list shows each item's Japanese label and aisle. Type a dish or snap a photo.

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