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🇧🇹 Traditional dishes from Bhutan

3 dishes people actually cook in Bhutan: what they are, how long they take, and what you need to buy.

What can you cook from Bhutan? 3 traditional Bhutan dishes, from Ema datshi (25 min, the quickest) to Phaksha paa (65 min, the longest). Each recipe is written step by step with full ingredient lists, free to read.

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Ema datshi

25 minutes · easy · 6 ingredients

Ema datshi, a traditional dish from Bhutan

Bhutan's national dish: whole green chilies simmered in water and bound with datshi, a soft home-made farm cheese that never fully melts.

  • 250 g fresh farmer cheese
  • 250 g green chilies
  • 2 spring onions
  • 200 ml water
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt

Jasha maroo

1 hour · easy · 9 ingredients

Jasha maroo, a traditional dish from Bhutan

A thin, fiercely hot Bhutanese chicken broth built on bone-in pieces, tomato and a handful of split green chilies rather than ground spice.

  • 800 g chicken
  • 6 green chili
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 1 leek
  • 8 clove garlic
  • 30 g ginger
  • 4 shallots
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 30 g butter

Phaksha paa

1 hour and 5 minutes · easy · 8 ingredients

Phaksha paa, a traditional dish from Bhutan

Fatty pork belly rendered in its own fat, then stewed with whole dried red chilies and daikon until the radish turns translucent and takes on the heat.

  • 700 g pork belly
  • 15 dried red chilies
  • 400 g daikon radish
  • 1 onion
  • 6 clove garlic
  • 20 g ginger
  • 150 g spinach
  • 1 tsp turmeric

What do people eat in Bhutan?

Copper documents three dishes from Bhutan: Ema datshi, Jasha maroo and Phaksha paa. Garlic and ginger each appear in more than one recipe. All three are simmered. Not one needs an oven — they cook entirely on the hob. Between them they use 21 different ingredients.

What ingredients do you need for cooking from Bhutan?

The three recipes need 21 ingredients between them, of which 2 are shared by more than one dish. Copper's atlas covers 586 dishes from 198 countries, and these three are the Bhutan entries. Every ingredient list on this page is complete, with quantities, and free to read.

How long do recipes from Bhutan take?

Ema datshi is the quickest at 25 minutes. Phaksha paa is the longest at 65 minutes. The median is 60 minutes — a weekend dish rather than a weeknight one.

Which dish from Bhutan is easiest to make at home?

Ema datshi, Jasha maroo and Phaksha paa are rated easy — start there. The full method is on each recipe page, step by step, free to read.

Explore nearby cuisines

Bhutan is part of South Asian.

Countries close to Bhutan on the globe — and close on the plate.

Get the step-by-step recipes