Many years ago, when I was on a scenic but tiring bus journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara, we had stopped for lunch at a ramshackle roadside eatery. Tired and hungry after a series of breakdowns that had increased our travel time by a couple of hours, the simple fare of daal-bhaat-tarkari seemed like a royal repast. The thali had a bowl of steaming hot rice, mustard greens stir-fried with garlic and red chillies, a spicy aloo ko achaar and a bowl of black lentils tempered with ghee. The dal wasn’t your creamy dal makhni; it was more runny, less burdened with spices, but so delicious in its clean flavours that I have never forgotten its taste.
Recently, when I visited Yeti—The Himalayan Kitchen’s newly opened outlet at Greater Kailash 2, I did not expect the memory of that journey or that bowl of dal to resurface. However, there it was, a bowl of Pahadi Dal in a kansa (bronze) bowl, hidden in the bounty of a Khasi ko Ledo (mutton curry), gundruk (fermented greens) and an assortment of fried vegetables, papad and pickles that make up the Non-Veg thakali thali at Yeti.
I poured some on the hot rice, and I was suddenly back in Nepal of the late 1980s, relishing a hot, no-frills meal against the impossibly beautiful backdrop of snow-capped mountains and paddy fields.
Taste of the Himalayas
Sometime ago, we did a story in Outlook Traveller asking food expert Rocky Singh why food tastes better in the hills. Singh suggested that it could be because our taste for umami gets heightened at higher altitudes.
While that may be true, I believe memory and nostalgia also play a part. Was the plate of “pahado wali Maggi” actually that great, or does it seem like that in retrospect because it reminds you of a time when you were travelling, free, happy, and hopeful?
Who knows? But Yeti at Greater Kailash 2 manages to tap into those pleasant mountain memories with a no-frills menu that focuses firmly on authentic, traditional recipes from the Eastern Himalayas—the kind of food you may have had when travelling through Darjeeling, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan.
The Star Dish
Having grown up eating momo in Darjeeling when it wasn’t the ubiquitous pan-India snack it has become today, I was curious to know what the momo offerings at Yeti would taste like. Would it take me back to those foggy monsoon days when only steaming hot momo straight from the mokto with chilli-tomato chutney and a clear soup could dispel the gloom and persistent dampness that seemed to seep into our skin?
I ordered the Non-veg Momo Platter of steamed chicken momo, steamed pork momo, and the Yeti special mutton momo—a veritable feast for the momo-lover. But not quite able to quench my greed and curiosity, I also asked for a plate of the “jhol” momo, a creation that has been popping up on my Instagram feed for a few years now.
The traditional momo offerings were delicious, packed with meaty fillings and dripping with juice. As expected, the mutton kothey (pan-fried) and the pork steamed momo were the clear winners, with the higher fat content in their meat fillings helping them overtake the leaner chicken variation. The jhol momo, dunked in a mildly spicy soyabean-based soup, was hearty, with the peanut flavour adding depth, but give me my old-fashioned momo any day!
Darjeeling Specials
Like momo, noodle soups like thukpa and thenthuk are lifesavers for cold days in the hills. Packed with meats and vegetables, they have all the nutrition you need to warm you up from the inside. At Yeti, I tried the Chicken Thukpa that came laden with cabbage, carrots, bok choy, green peas, tomatoes, spring onion, and slivers of chicken. They have a choice of meat with buff, pork and mutton on offer, and you can replace the meat chunks or keema if that’s what you prefer. The menu also has a selection of “regular” soups, such as hot and sour and egg drop, but nothing comes close to a hearty, authentic thukpa!
If you don’t like your noodles soupy, try Chow Chow—noodles wok-tossed with vegetables, another staple in big and small eateries across the Darjeeling hills. It is somewhat like Hakka noodles but with a uniquely Himalayan twist, and it makes an appearance on Yeti’s menu, too. You can add egg, chicken, buff, or mutton and customise it to your liking.
Nibbles with your Tipple
When I visited Yeti’s Greater Kailash outlet, they did not have a liquor license, but now they do and are all set to start pouring shortly. And when you do inaugurate their bar menu, you won’t find their main menu lacking in some stellar starters that are high on the chatpata scale. Some recommendations include the Sukuti Sadheko. Sukuti is a dehydrated meat, like jerky, and tastes phenomenal with onions, tomatoes, and some fiery Nepali spices. There’s batter-fried Machha (fish) and Kokra (chicken) Tareko served with a spicy peanut sauce; Sekuwa, chargrilled meat served with a spicy sauce; Choila, grilled chicken cooked in garlic, chillies, and Newari spices; and the all-time favourite streetside snack, Wai Wai Sadeko in chicken and veg versions, that involves crushed “raw” Wai Wai noodles mixed with onions, tomatoes, herbs,
From the Tibetan menu, Gyuma, homemade Tibetan mutton sausages fried with ginger and garlic and Shapta, thinly sliced meat stir-fried with onion, garlic, and spices, are not to be missed. Truth be told, I might revisit Yeti just for the appetisers!
Vibe Check
Yeti—The Himalayan Kitchen is not a fine dining restaurant and does not claim to be one. What it offers is a casual, warm vibe that reminds you of restaurants in the hills. The décor is standard with a few Himalayan flourishes like prayer flags, brass samovars and Tibetan carpets, but nothing that will take your focus away from the great food.
The neighbourhood: Yeti—The Himalayan Kitchen is situated in the busy Greater Kailash 2 market that stays buzzing with shoppers and diners till late at night. It’s accessible and cabs and autos are easily available; the Kailash Colony metro station is about an 11 minute walk away.
Price points: Yeti is a reasonably affordable restaurant where thalis in vegetarian and non-vegetarian options are for ₹695 and ₹795 respectively; momo, including steamed and fried options, comes for around ₹445 and ₹595, curries like Saag Maas and Khasi Ko Ledo are reasonably priced at ₹655 and ₹695. Price for a meal for two (without alcohol and without taxes) would be approximately Rs 1,200
