Learning to Make Dhindo the Nepali Way

Dhindo or Dhido (pronounced dhee-dough) sounds like some exotic dish from Nepal, but it is simply a thick porridge or mush made by cooking stone-ground cornmeal (ghatta maa pidheko makai ko pitho), millet flour (kodo ko pitho), or buckwheat flour (phaapar ko pitho) with salt and water.

Dhindo is a staple food in rural and middle mountain-area regions of Nepal, especially in dry areas where rice or wheat are difficult to grow. This hearty, filling dish is a nutrient powerhouse and is eaten with a dab of homemade nauni, gheu (clarified butter), jhol tarkaari (curried vegetables), or with various pickles and buttermilk or yogurt. Gundruk-Dhindo is the most common combination served in farming communities. Gundruk is a fermented and preserved leafy vegetable that is used to prepare a soup-like dish that is known as gundruk ko jhol. Nepalese who do hard physical labor consume enormous amounts of this nutritious meal.