Ema datshi
Bhutan’s national dish: green chillies stewed with cheese into a creamy, very spicy sauce. There, chillies aren’t a seasoning but a vegetable, and they’re eaten every day with red rice.
Ingredients
- 250 g long green chillies (or green peppers with a chilli or two, if you want it milder)
- 1 onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 150 g feta or crumbled fresh cheese
- 50 g melting cheese (a mild cheddar type)
- 250 ml water
- 1 tablespoon of oil or butter
How to make it at home
- Slit the chillies lengthways (remove the seeds if you want them milder) and put them in a pot with the sliced onion, water and oil.
- Cook them covered for 10 minutes over a medium heat.
- Add the chopped tomato and garlic and cook for 3 more minutes.
- Add the cheeses, stir gently and leave for 3 minutes until they melt into a sauce.
- Turn off the heat and serve with rice, ideally red.
The trick: Don’t stir too much once the cheese is in: it should be creamy, not stringy.