SouperChef Special | Roasted Vegetables Chilli Cheese Stew

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Roasted Vegetables Chilli Cheese Stew

Vegetarian | Contains Dairy | Gluten-Free | Spicy

The ultimate experience in Bhutanese dining will have to be at the home of a Bhutanese family, sharing a specially cooked traditional meal, complete with suja (butter tea) and ara (homemade alcoholic beverage).

Cooking in Bhutan is peaceful, slow and a pure, pure pleasure.

In the home of a tangka (Buddhist relics) artist, Kinzang, we were taught how to prepare a proper ema datshi, a chilli cheese stew made using local cottage cheese with green chillies. This is the de facto national dish of Bhutan, a staple of nearly every meal and found throughout the country. What’s interesting is every household has a different variation adding shamu (mushrooms), French beans, ferns, potatoes and even orchids when they are in season.

My version of the eazay that I learned to make during my first trip to Bhutan. I love things spicy so this packs a fiery punch!

This was where I had my first taste of ezay too, a chopped dried red chilli salad mixed with red onions, coriander, cheese and thingey (peppercorns). We have made ours with an array of vegetables commonly eaten in Bhutan, including green chillies, cooked with cream cheese, feta cheese and cheddar cheese topped with ezay. Cheesy, spicy, tasty!

Ingredients: Vegetable stock (water, carrots, onions, leeks, herbs), roasted cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, white radish, oyster mushrooms, roasted pumpkin, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, eggplant, cream cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, green chillies, dried red chillies, leeks, yellow lentils, chilli powder, garlic, onions, ginger, coriander, butter, salt, sugar

Condiments: Chopped coriander and ezay* (chilli salad with feta cheese, red onions, coriander and thingey)

*contains dairy