Is Nepali Food Spicy? Heat in Himalayan Cooking

Usually mild to moderate. Chili is used freely, but much of it sits in the pickle or chutney served on the side rather than being cooked into the dish, so the diner controls the heat.

Anything made with dalle khursani, a small round red chili from eastern Nepal often compared to a habanero. Newari dishes like choila are also properly hot, as are chilli momo and most fresh achar.

The opposite, generally. Food from Nepal's high mountain districts is the mildest in the country, chili is scarce at altitude, and the cooking leans on barley, potato and dairy. Heat increases as you go south toward the plains.

Yogurt, lassi, or plain rice. Capsaicin doesn't dissolve in water, so drinking water spreads the burn rather than removing it.

Ask for chutney on the side, say your heat preference before ordering rather than after, avoid anything with chilli or dalle in the name, and start with steamed momo. At restaurants that use a spice scale, name a number.