Newari Bara

Kathmandu Valley black gram patties of hand-beaten maas paste with ginger and cumin, fried on a griddle in mustard oil and crowned with an egg

Origin: Kathmandu, Patan & Bhaktapur, Nepal

From the journey of Black Gram.

Bara, in Newari wo, is a savoury patty made from black gram, maas, soaked overnight, ground to a thick paste, beaten by hand until light, seasoned with ginger, cumin, and turmeric, and fried on a flat griddle in mustard oil. It is the most characteristic snack of the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, sold in Patan and Bhaktapur and served at feasts, and it comes plain, with an egg cracked over it as it cooks, or topped with spiced minced meat. It is a festival food as much as an everyday one. On Sithi Nakha, the Newar day in early summer on which communities clean their wells, stone water spouts, and ponds before the monsoon, households cook bara and chatamari, the rice-flour crêpe, and offer them to the god Kumar. Plain bara is also among the offerings of Mha Puja, the Newar worship of the self at the new year. The beating is the art. Black gram paste traps air the way it does in a South Indian vada, and a well-beaten Newari bara batter holds its shape on a spoon and fries into a patty that is crisp at the edge and soft and light within.

Ingredients

Batter

200 g split black gram with skins (maas ko dal)
1 piece fresh ginger, 3 cm, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp ground cumin
0.25 tsp ground turmeric
0.75 tsp salt
2 tbsp water, only if needed

Frying

4 tbsp mustard oil, for frying

Topping

4 whole eggs (optional)
2 tbsp chopped spring onion or coriander

Method

Soak the maas in plenty of water overnight.
Rub the soaked lentils between your hands under water to loosen the skins, and pour off as many of the floating skins as come away easily. Drain well.
Grind the maas with the ginger and garlic to a thick, smooth paste, adding water only a spoonful at a time if the grinder stalls.
Beat the paste vigorously with your hand or a spoon for five minutes, until it lightens in colour and a little dropped into water floats. Stir in the cumin, turmeric, and salt.
Heat a tablespoon of mustard oil on a flat griddle over a medium heat until it just smokes, then lower the heat slightly.
Spread a large spoonful of batter into a round about 10 cm across and 1 cm thick. If using an egg, make a slight hollow in the centre, crack the egg into it, and scatter over spring onion.
Cook for three to four minutes, drizzling a little oil around the edge, until crisp and brown underneath, then turn carefully and cook for two to three minutes more.
Serve hot with a tomato achar.

Notes

For masu bara, press a spoonful of spiced minced meat onto the batter before turning. Maas with the skin on is sold in Nepali grocers as black lentils; skinless urad dal works, giving a paler bara. Bara is best straight off the griddle.

The Gastrographer

Name: Newari Bara
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 10 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Nepal
Ingredients: 200 g split black gram with skins (maas ko dal); 1 piece fresh ginger, 3 cm, grated; 2 cloves garlic, grated; 1 tsp ground cumin; 0.25 tsp ground turmeric; 0.75 tsp salt; 2 tbsp water, only if needed; 4 tbsp mustard oil, for frying; 4 whole eggs (optional); 2 tbsp chopped spring onion or coriander

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control