Ema Datshi - The national dish of Bhutan
A thin cheese and chili stew from Bhutan made with butter. This is a recipe which we have picked up from Chef Piyush Mishra- The Executive Chef of Taj Tashi, Bhutan.
Ingredients
- 12 nos Bhutanese Green Chilies
- 1 no Medium Sized Onion
- 1 no medium sized tomato
- 3/4 cup Bhutanese local cheese
- 3/4 cup processed cheese
- 1 tbsp Butter
- Salt To Taste
Instructions
- Finely cut the green chillies length wise and discard the seeds.
- Slice the onions and the tomatoes too.
- In a frying pan or a sauce pan, take the butter and melt it.
- Add the onions to it and simply sweat them. Keep the heat at medium so that the onions don't turn brown.
- When the onions have become soft, add the tomatoes and then again cook for about five minutes and add the Bhutanese green chilies.
- Cook the chilies for five minutes and then add the local cheese and the processed cheese. Immediately add 2 cups of water and cook till the cheese has melted and formed a nice sauce.
- It takes about 10 to 12 minutes for the sauce to be prepared.
- Finally add salt if required and turn off the heat.
- Serve the stew hot and it can be had as it is or with rice if you wish.
Notes
- The quantities for the ingredients given by Chef Piyush were in tbsp whereas here I have given them in the quantities convenient for home cooks (eg one onion and one tomato).
- In case you want to make this dish when you do not have Bhutanese cheese, you can try it out with some feta and processed cheese. (I have not tried it hence cannot guarantee result. However, I do know that most people outside of Bhutan make this with just amul cheese)
- The amount of water required is also dependant on the thinness of the stew you prefer. Add more water if you feel like but add slowly instead of at one go.