Local Cuisines
Since the local population comprises mostly the Hyolmo communities, the culture and traditions in Helambu is heavily influenced by their way of life. The primary religion is Tibetan Buddhism of the Nyingmapa school, intermixed with animism and paganism as incorporated within the general dimensions of Bon. The Hyolmo language shares high lexical similarities with Sherpa and Tibetan. It is traditionally transcribed in the Sambhoti (Tibetan) script, but many modern academics use the Devanagari script as well. The Yolmo language is also very closely related to Kagate, another language of the Kyirong-Kagate language sub-group.
The Hyolmo people are primarily agriculturalists. Potatoes, radishes, and other crops, as well as milk and flesh from the yak that the Yolmos are known to herd, are their primary sources of nutrition. The primary festivals celebrated in the region are below.
Suyou Cha (Butter Tea)
Tibetan tea/ Suyou cha/ butter tea, many names are given to the popular beverage of the hyolmo people. The tea is prepared by churning specially prepared tea leaves with milk, salt and butter in a long cylindrical tube called Dongmu.
A Dongmu can be made out of wood, bamboo, and nowadays even pvc pipes. In recent times the locals have started preparing the tea using blenders and mixers since churning the tea in the traditional way is laborious and time-consuming. Nonetheless, the popularity of butter tea remains amongst locals and visitors alike.
Rildhok
A warm bowl of mashed potato stew, rhildok is a fulfilling dish of the region. The locals boil and mash locally grown potatoes into small balls and drop them into a bowl of hot, spicy soup prepared using fresh herbs and spices. A bowl or two of rhildok often accompanied by dried meat, on a cold morning would be enough to get you going on a half-day trek.
Shyakpa
Commonly also known as thenthuk, Shekpa is a traditional pulled flat noodle made from flour. Wheat flour is kneaded, flat rolled and finally sliced into long, thin noodles. It is then boiled with fresh seasonal vegetables, spices and sometimes even meat and served hot in bowls.
Dhindo (Polanta)
Another very popular cuisine is dhindo, which is traditionally prepared from ground buckwheat or millet, but corn meal is common as well. Theoretically, any flour can be used to make dhindo, as it is essentially a simple mixture of hot water and ground grain.
Dhindo is eaten by making a small ball with one’s fingers, dipping it in a liquid (lentil soup, meat soup, milk or gundruk) and swallowing without chewing. It is often served with chutney.
Dal Bhat
The most common cuisine, all over Nepal is also a popular dish in Helambu. Dal bhat is a platter of boiled rice, lentil and curry made of vegetables or meat. The meal is eaten almost on a daily basis by all of Hyolmo’s households.
