Raplo (राप्लो)
Mustard Greens Curry
A humble yet delightful saag curry cooked from far western Nepal.
Mustard greens is one of the most commonly eaten greens (Saag, साग) in Nepal. Saag is a simple dish that can be prepared by sauteing greens in oil with some chilies and salt. It only takes 10 minutes to prepare saag. Mustard green saag is a very common side dish served with rice or rotis.
Raplo is an elaborate saag curry cooked with broken rice grains called Kanika (कनिका). It is one of the unique dishes prepared in far western Nepal. It is a humble food that can be made using easily available ingredients. Some people have it as a meal, and some have it as a side dish.
In the past, before modern rice processing mills made their way to remote villages, rice used to be processed by pounding it manually using Okhal(ओखल). Some people in villages still remove rice husk using Okhal. Using Okhal produces lots of broken rice grains which are later separated from whole grains. Using these broken rice grains makes the rice mushy, so they are not used to make cooked rice. Sometimes Kanika is used as animal feed. I think the best use of Kanika is in the preparation of Raplo.
To make Raplo start by chopping the mustard greens as finely as possible. After chopping finely, put it in a pot and let it steam in its own moisture by putting a lid on for about 10 minutes. Then add Kanika to the pot and continue to steam. The greens should release water and that should be enough to start cooking Kanika. Add a splash of water if the mixture is too dry. While the greens and Kanika are steaming together, prepare a slurry by mixing well some water, a spoon of all purpose flour, and spices. The spices that go into the slurry are garlic, turmeric, salt, chilli powder, cumin-coriander powder, and Sichuan pepper (timmur). Add the slurry into the pot and cook until the rice grains become mushy and well integrated with the greens. Finally, take a pinch of asafoetida, drop it in a small pan of heated ghee or mustard oil, and then add it to the dish. This final step of tempering greatly enhances the taste of Raplo.
