Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Ema Datshi
Bhutan’s national dish: green chilies stewed as the vegetable, not the seasoning, in a silky cheese sauce.
Bhutanese · easy · serves 3
prep 10 min · cook 20 min
~822 cal · 36g protein · 67g carbs · 45g fat · 2g fiber · 4g sugars · 26g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ema datshi is the national dish of Bhutan and the heart of its cuisine, green (or red) chilies stewed with local farmhouse cheese ('datshi') into a fiery, creamy sauce. Uniquely, the chili here is not a seasoning but the vegetable itself, reflecting the Bhutanese love of serious, warming heat.
In the high Himalayan kingdom, chilies are grown, dried on rooftops, and eaten in quantity, and datshi cheese binds them into a rich, molten stew. The dish is a point of national identity, so central that no Bhutanese meal feels complete without it.
Served with the country's staple red rice, which the heat, ema datshi is everyday food across Thimphu and the mountains.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 3
3/4 lb mild-to-medium green chilies (Anaheim/serrano mix), sliced lengthwise
1 cup farmer cheese
1/2 cup a melty cheese (datshi stand-in)
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp
3 cups cooked red rice (or any rice), to serve
Instructions
1
Put chilies, onion, tomato, garlic, oil, and 1.5 cups water in a pot; boil 10 minutes.
2
Add the cheeses and stir gently 5 minutes as they slump into a creamy sauce.
3
Rest 2 minutes, covered, Bhutanese cooks swear by this settling.
4
Serve over red rice. Warn guests the chilies are the vegetable; watch them become believers.
Thimphu daily-table tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Thimphu. Red rice is the grain at this altitude, a short husked grain that cooks softer and stickier than white and tints the whole plate. Butter tea, churned with salt instead of sugar, works as a hot drink and a broth at the same time, and dried meat hangs through the winter because nothing is growing.
🗺️
Bhutan. Nothing chilli-based in Bhutan is ancient, since the chilli itself is a post-Columbian arrival in the Himalaya. What is old is the grain: red rice grown in terraced paddies at altitude, buckwheat in the high valleys of Bumthang made into pancakes and noodles, and butter and cheese from yaks that graze above where rice will grow.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bhutan
Khur-leRustic buckwheat pancakes from the Bhutanese highlands, eaten with chili-cheese ezay.
Jasha MarooA soupy, spicy minced-chicken stew with tomato, ginger, and coriander, a warming everyday Bhutanese dish.
KhabzeyCrisp, lightly sweet fried dough shaped into knots and butterflies, a festive Bhutanese biscuit for New Year and offerings.
Browse all Bhutan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Bhutan meal
Suja (Butter Tea)Drink
KhabzeyDessert
Jasha MarooLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ema Datshi?
Bhutan’s national dish: green chilies stewed as the vegetable, not the seasoning, in a silky cheese sauce.
Where does Ema Datshi come from?
Ema Datshi is a Bhutanese dish from Thimphu, Bhutan.
Can Ema Datshi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ema Datshi recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ema Datshi safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ema Datshi take to make?
About 30 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 3.
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