Nepalese Catering

Momos are the order. They are the Himalayan dumpling, hand-pleated around spiced chicken, lamb, or vegetables, steamed, and served with a tomato achar that is sharp and a little smoky. Nearly every Nepalese kitchen we book from lists them.

Build the remainder of the table around two more dishes. Choila is grilled meat, usually chicken or pork, chopped and tossed warm with mustard oil, garlic, ginger, and chili, a Newari dish somewhere between a grilled meat and a spiced salad. Dal bhat is the everyday meal of Nepal: lentil soup, rice, a vegetable curry called tarkari, and a spoon of achar. It is what makes the momos a meal instead of a snack.

Our Nepalese kitchens list momos in two ways.

The first is the two-piece side. A plate of choila or tofu curry with rice arrives with two momos on it. That is a taste, not a meal.

The second is the momo box or tray, where the dumplings are the meal. Count those by the piece, and ask the kitchen how many it packs per box. Steamed is the default and holds better in transit. Pan-seared momos, called kothey, lose their crispness in a closed tray, so order them only for a short delivery. Always ask for extra achar. The sauce runs out before the dumplings do.

Many Nepalese kitchens here run an Indian menu beside the Nepali one, since that is what walk-in customers know how to order. Butter chicken and naan share the card with momos, choila, and sometimes sekuwa, skewered grilled meat.

To get a Nepalese lunch rather than an Indian catering order with dumplings attached, name the Nepali dishes when you book: momos, choila, dal bhat, a tarkari, achar, and sekuwa if the kitchen grills. The spicing is lighter on cream and heavier on timur, the Himalayan pepper that tingles. Bini’s Kitchen, one of the first Nepalese catering kitchens in San Francisco, tells its own story on our blog.

A Nepalese spread covers most of a room without special orders because the vegetarian dishes are first-string, not substitutes. Vegetable momos are a standard. Dal is vegan by default. Tarkari is usually cooked in oil rather than ghee, and one of our kitchens lists mushroom and soy choila beside the chicken. Rice is the base throughout, so gluten-free guests can eat everything but the dumpling wrapper.

Label the chicken and vegetable momos, since they look identical once steamed.

Give CaterAi the vegetarian count, and it scales the vegetable momos and meatless choila from the roster. The remaining cuisines a team can rotate through are in the full cuisine list, and dumpling catering gathers every kitchen that steams or fries them.