~647 cal · 18g protein · 126g carbs · 7g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Wooden pot of millet beer with a bamboo straw
🇳🇵 Kathmandu Valley
Tongba is the communal warm brew of eastern Nepal's Limbu people: fermented finger millet packed into a wooden pot (a tongba), topped with hot water, and sipped through a narrow bamboo straw (pipsing). As you drink it down, you simply add more hot water, coaxing several rounds from the same grains.
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🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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4 cups finger millet, fermented (weeks ahead)
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8 cups hot water
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2 tbsp yeast/starter culture (murcha)
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1 tbsp a little sugar (optional)
Instructions
1
Weeks ahead, cook the finger millet, cool it, mix with the murcha starter, and ferment in a sealed vessel until boozy.
2
Pack the fermented millet into a wooden tongba (or tall mug).
3
Top with just-boiled water and let it steep for 5 minutes so the warmth draws out the brew.
4
Sip through a bamboo straw, refilling with hot water for several rounds from the same grains.
Limbu tradition, eastern Nepal.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Kathmandu Valley. Newar courtyards and the twice-daily ritual of dal bhat.
🗺️
Nepal. Himalayan kitchens where dal bhat powers every trek.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
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