Thakali khana: Losing its essence and uniqueness, Nepal’s signature meal set awaits standardisation

When friends and families come to her home, Shashi Tulachan of Pokhara gets compliments for the delicious food she serves. While urban crowds throng fancy restaurants to taste the famous Thakali khana set, her friends and relatives have the luxury to visit her. They say Tulachan’s dishes are more flavourful than those of the restaurants.

In the last decade, restaurants dedicated to the Thakali khana set mushroomed in Kathmandu and other major cities like Pokhara. They soon became popular thanks to the unique taste they promised and the traditional serving styles. But, for people like Tulachan, the way the Thakali khana set has been commercialised does not carry the essence of Thakali food culture. “Mustang, the original home of the Thakali ethnic group, is a desert-like area where rice is not cultivated significantly. But, all Thakali khana sets in the cities have rice as the main dish.”