Kathmandu

1/3/2024

Going to college in Hyderabad in the 1960s, there were many magical names calling my inner traveler — Ceylon, Burma, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Kerala, Puri. The most enticing of all was Nepal. I visited twice and figured I would never again taste some of its marvelous foods again, unless I returned. 

Funny how things change. All but the last two of the places mentioned have new names now, and Hyderabad is in a newly created state that has become one of the wealthiest, bustling, high-tech cities in the world. The Hyderabad I recalled was unrecognizable when I visited again 35 years later. 

Most happily of all, the best of the South Asian subcontinent has come to Des Moines. Cinemas here show more than one Telegu language movie a week. That’s the language of Hyderabad, though some say it’s really English now. A friend told me that there are more than 500 Telegu speakers in Polk County now. Several restaurants feature Hyderabadi cuisine, the most sophisticated of India’s myriad styles. 

And we have Nepalese restaurants. Kathmandu now sits in Apple Valley, in front of the two stores where more different languages are spoken than anywhere else in town — Walmart and Sam’s Club. The food is very different than what I remember in Nepal; it’s much better. 

Just as Nepal is a landlocked island buffering India and China, its cuisine incorporates dishes of both. It also has access to the bounty of American farming and ranching, which is why it’s so good.

South Asian buffets are becoming harder to find. Amaravati and Namaste are gone, and suburban Indian restaurants don’t do buffets. In Des Moines, there is India Star on weekdays and Kathmandu on weekends. (Lzaza has one daily.) These are a fabulous way for initiates to try many things out. 

Kathmandu offers eight types of ice cream plus pickles, chutneys, vegetarian and meat dishes plus naan and rice. The restaurant also offers thalis, which are a way to try several dishes when there is no buffet. Thalis were featured on the History Channel’s series about the greatest engineering feats in the world. They somehow serve and deliver millions of customized meals a day and were invented by India Railways. 

Best of all, though, is the full menu, which includes Nepal’s greatest hits — thukpa (noodle soup), sekuwa (charcoal roasted meats in sauce), momos (dumplings), methi (meats braised with lots of fenugreek leaves), kashi ko mashu (curries), dals (lentils) and pickled things. 

There is no water buffalo, which is a good thing in my mind. The two dals are heavenly. If Americans loved South Asian spices as much as Nepalis do, then lentils would be a favorite food here. I love the methi goat, but it’s an acquired taste. The momos, probably the one thing that most distinguishes Nepali from India cuisine, differ from Chinese dumplings in condiments and stuffings. Chicken momos have no vegetables — just a paste of minced chicken. They are served with a singular, mildly hot sauce tasting of tomato, chili and garlic. 

Pickles of all kinds are the best condiments. Order the mixed pickles dish and the chutneys. They go well with everything. My favorite dish is an Iowa concession — mango corn soup. It’s delicious cold or hot. 

Indian breads are available except for poori, probably because Nepali food does not fry much. There are seafood dishes, something one hardly ever sees in Nepal. There are also biryanis (Hyderabad’s greatest hit), vindaloos associated with South India, rasmalai (a decadent cheesecake and syrup dish with nuts) and full tandoori (clay oven) service.  

Kathmandu is not the most accommodating restaurant. I have been refused choices or substitutions on thalis, and a request that an order of momos be half chicken and half vegetarian was refused. n

 

Jim Duncan is a food writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.