From Nepal to Ridgewood, New Yorkers Get a Taste of Home-Cooked Himalayan Food

The Deli is an ode to the artisanal food makers of New York. Two weeks ago, we spoke to baker Tyler Lee Steinbrenner of Anti-Conquest Bread Co., who has made thousands of loaves of bread by hand in the past year out of a small bakery in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. This week’s subject Rachana Rimal of Rachana’s Delight is similarly a one-person show: the Nepalese chef was a skilled home cook until she immigrated to the United States and started working in catering. Today, she has her own business where she sells handmade sweets, momos, and more truly delightful food from her homeland.

The Product: Traditional sweet and savory Nepalese foods, with a personal twist.
The Deli Pick: Paneer chili momos.
How To Buy: Order online from rachanasdelight.com. Sweets and frozen momos can be shipped, and other savory dishes, like manchurian, can currently be ordered for catering and picked up at Pàn, a restaurant and cafe in Ridgewood, Queens, or O Cafe in Manhattan.
Price: From $5 to $25.

I am from Nepal. I came here as an immigrant in 2006 alone, and I landed in Virginia. I felt it was not good for me because I didn't drive, and there are not very much opportunities for immigrants. As an immigrant, New York is the better place. You can open your own business, you can get around easily, you can take the train. That was why I chose New York.

I came here for working, but I had no idea what to start with. In Nepal, I was a housewife. One of my friends convinced me to start babysitting, so I started because I know babies, but my dream was making myself a chef. I didn't have a certificate [in cooking], but everybody loves my food. Then I found Eat Offbeat [an organization that provides delivery meals conceived and prepared by refugees in New York]. They called me and talked about me and my dream. I don't know how to cook American food. I had [tried] pizza and mashed potatoes and bread, eggs...that's it. So I made them momos and the manchurian [a traditional Indo-Chinese-inspired dish made with chicken, cauliflower and more] and they liked it. They said to me, you don't need to cook American food, you need to cook only your food. That gave me such relief, and what I needed to fulfill my dream. So I took that job and slowly I got more confident about my food. 

At Eat Offbeat we had like five, six people from different countries and we can learn from each other. It's so cool to get the chance to introduce all of these people to these different foods and ways of cooking.  I feel like sometimes I'm not in America. I live in my country, because I'm cooking my food and giving it to my visitors. In Nepal, the visitors are God, so we love to see people.

Then I started thinking, why not start my own company? There was another worker [Chef Nasrin Rejali, who has been previously featured in The Deli]  who was also a very good cook and a good chef, and we talked to each other and now we're both doing our own companies. Mine is called Rachana’s Delight. I have my website and one day I'll open my own restaurant. That is my goal. I am very happy right now. I want to introduce my food to people. That is my love.

This is my honor. I want to give people my home food, not restaurant food. In restaurants, they go by the cost, people use a lot of oil. I am using very good ghee, clarified butter, so I don’t compromise. The flavors should be there, I don't want to mess up things I made in my country.

To grow my company I need lots of things, for example, I need more wholesale customers and retailers. I need my own kitchen, so also looking for investors. Right now, I am sharing Nasrin's kitchen. My goal is not only for money. I don't want to be the general restaurant, I want to be very different: very Himalayan, very fresh, no pollution.

Greatest hit: Sel, which are Nepali donuts. They are very popular, served for every festival. In our culture, sweets are seasonal, for each celebration. 

Most underrated product: [I am just starting to sell my savory foods.] I think steamed momo is going to be [popular,] of course, because people are very health conscious. And manchurian [made with gobi or cauliflower, peppers, and a soy sauce-based sauce], you can eat with rice, you can eat in the roti, you can eat it plain. This goes with everything. Nepali manchurian is good for you. Yeah, Nepali momo is good for you.

Tips to best enjoy your products: For the momos, I have all the instructions on the bag. If you want to fry, you can fry. You can put them in the oven. And if you want to steam, you can use a steamer. But if you want to steam, and want it to be a little fried, you can do that too: Steam, but not too much, then put a little bit of oil and stir fry. The skin will be a little bit brownish, and you can eat them with sauce. It is awesome. I love them that way.

Favorite places to eat in NY: Jujube Tree, a vegan restaurant in Astoria, Queens, and Vatan on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. 

Food makers to follow: Chef Juan from Eat Offbeat.