Food from the Plateau

NT Features

Millennials in Bengaluru have a new favourite food – that is, Tibetan cuisine. This is for two reasons: one, the food is light and pleasant; two, its pocket-friendly.

Who will not welcome the chance to enjoy various dishes starting at just Rs 60?

The main ingredients of Tibetan food are salt, garlic and shallots, and it goes easy on the spices. The seasoning is minimal, with just spring onions. The commonly used cooking methods are roasting, frying, boiling, etc. With such limited things being added the taste of the original vegetable or meat is guaranteed. It’s also in line with the current trend of returning to basic eating.

While maintaining the traditional dietary culture of the plateau, Tibetan fare is also influenced by Sichuan, Indian and Nepalese food culture.

Being a city that welcomes every cuisine and adopts different cultures, Bengaluru has provided a great platform to Tibetans. So you can find many Tibetan restaurants in Bengaluru.

Built to blend with the classic taste of Tibet, Shangrila, at Brigade Road, is the oldest restaurant in the city serving Tibetan food.

Founded in 1975, this restaurant serves mouth-watering authentic dishes. Their speciality is cuisine from the Qinghai Tibetian Plateau. This is quite different from food from other ethnic Tibetan groups. Qinghainese food is mostly boiled and treated with spices.

Chicken shapta and tingmo made with thin slices of chicken, bell peppers, onions, is served with soft, dough balls called tingmo.

Laphing, a yellow cold noodle, made of dough has a spicy and savoury taste. This jelly-like dish is satisfying to one’s taste buds.

Sha Phaley, also known as Shabhaley, Shyafaley or Shapale, is a popular snack in Tibet. It is circular or semi-circular bread stuffed with vegetables or meat that is deep-fried (or sometimes pan-fried), and eaten hot. Sha Phaley literally means ‘meat bread’.

Thenthuk in Tibetan means “pull noodles”. This is a Tibetan soup made from hand-pulled dough, a lot of fresh vegetables, and meat (mutton or chicken). A bowl of fried thenthuk costs just Rs140, and is super filling. So, the next time, you are ravenous and are limited by your purse, you know where to head.