What is the Famous Food of Ladakh?

Looking for some momo as well as soup? Mokthuk is for you. It is a Tibetan soup consisting of momos and vegetables. The goodness of momos and warm soup covered in one.

One of the most famous and signature dishes of Ladakh is the Chutagi( dumpling soup). It is made of flour into a bow- tie shaped dumpling with soup consisting of potatoes, carrots and spinach. I simply love this dish and just cannot get enough of it especially when my mother makes it.

Another dumpling soup made in the same way as the Chutagi but shaped like really tiny thumb sized chapatis. The soup is delicious with the essence of all the different vegetables that are put into it. For a non- veg skew mutton is most preferred and potatoes are a must to give it a nice flavour and texture.

Qahwa
Although we hear of Qahwa more in the Kashmir region, it is in fact, an essential drink in Leh.

The flour of Barley is roasted and kneaded in a little oil and eaten with some sugar. Another way to eat it is with Tangthur and Zathuk which is butter milk. Paba is mixed with Tangthur and other vegetables and eaten. A very healthy source of food.

The day we landed in Leh, we were asked by our host to drink Qahwa throughout the day in small quantities.

It contains saffron and cinnamon that help keep the body warm. If you are planning to buy Qahwa to take back home, the local grocery shops stock only two brands:

Gur Gur is the name of the instrument in which the tea is made. After churning the curd/ yogurt the butter that is left is used to make this tea. It is not sweet but delicious in the cold weather. The ingredients used to make this tea are butter, milk and tea powder, all of this is then put into the shaker (Gur Gur) and the tea is made. In English it is called Butter Tea and in Tibetan it is called Tsaza.

A traditional dish of Ladakh, this food preparation is made of kneaded thumb sized wheat flour dough. Cooked mainly with water, it is served with meat or vegetables. Khambir: The traditional bread of Ladakh is known as Khambir. Shaped like a pan, this bread is served mostly with the traditional butter tea.

King’s and Kanwal. These are ready to make Qahwa powder brands.

Kulcha
This is a kind of bun, which is very unlike what we know as Kulcha in North India. It is a hard bun that the locals eat with qahwa or tea.

Tigmo (pronounced Teemo)
We did not go looking for this dish, unlike the Chhupri. We just went into a local restaurant in Leh main market, asked for a local dish and were offered the “Tigmo”. It is a form of fermented and steamed bread, served with a veg/non-veg stew.

Momo is very famous Tibetan dish. It is a dumpling with different stuffings in them depending on whether it is Vegetarian or Non- Vegetarian.

Qahwa
Although we hear of Qahwa more in the Kashmir region, it is in fact, an essential drink in Leh. The day we landed in Leh, we were asked by our host to drink Qahwa throughout the day in small quantities.

Thukpa which is just noodle soup is also a Tibetan dish that is made is Ladakh. The flour is kneaded, the broth is cooked containing onion, tomato, garlic and other vegetables if veg and beef/ mutton if non-veg once it looks a little cooked the flour is rolled into thin strings and dropped into the boiling broth.

This dish is more common in areas where apricot is grown in large numbers. The dried flour is boiled in water and then mixed with the seeds of the apricots which is nicely grinded to give a smooth texture. This dish is not only delicious but also highly nutritious and is considered very good for a normal diet.

When we think of Food of Ladakh all that comes to our mind is Momos. Momos and nothing else. However, Ladakh is known for its delicacies and contains many other foodstuffs other than momos.

Kulcha
This is a kind of bun, which is very unlike what we know as Kulcha in North India. It is a hard bun that the locals eat with qahwa or tea.

Ladakh food has influences from Tibetan, Nepalese and Kashmiri food. Over time, these forces have grown to produce foodstuffs of their kind, their taste.

Langar
The langar served at Gurudwara Pathar Sahib is food for the soul. I have never had such tasty rajma in my life. The most amazing thing is that the Gurudwara cooks in such huge volumes and still manages to keep it so homely.

The cuisine focuses a lot on soup, bread, and brew. Moreover, interestingly, it is very much made keeping in mind the weather conditions of the place

Ladakhi people are self-sufficient regarding the food they grow, and more often their food item contains vegetables that are produced in Ladakh.

Saag

Saag is a vegetarian dish made of Spinach. It is quite a simple dish yet mouth-watering one

It contains in it spinach along with red chilies, garlic, cloves and is cooked in mustard oil

It is served along with rice or plain roti. It is a semi-dry preparation. Hence the trick lies in not letting the water evaporate.