Ema datshi recipe — traditional dish from Bhutan

Name: Ema datshi
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Bhutan
Ingredients: 250 g fresh farmer cheese; 250 g green chilies; 2 spring onions; 200 ml water; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp salt

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

How to make Ema datshi

Real datshi is a soft fresh curd cheese made at home from cow or yak milk and is not sold outside Bhutan; the closest stand-in is an unsalted crumbly farmer cheese or paneer plus a little cream. Feta is brined and sour and will not behave like datshi.

Split 250 g of green chilies lengthwise and leave them in long halves. Scrape out some seeds only if you want it milder.

Slice 2 spring onions, greens included, into 3 cm lengths.

Put the chilies, spring onions, 200 ml of water, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of salt into a pot. No browning, no sauteing.

Cover and simmer 10 minutes over medium heat until the chilies are soft and the water has reduced by about half.

Crumble in 250 g of fresh farmer cheese, cover, and cook 3 minutes without stirring so the cheese softens rather than melts.

Stir once, gently, to coat the chilies in a thick lumpy sauce. Do not whisk it into a smooth cream.

Serve at once with red rice.

What is Ema datshi?

Ema datshi is a traditional dish from Bhutan, simmered in one pot, and takes about 25 minutes from start to finish. It is built around fresh farmer cheese and green chilies. The recipe below uses 6 ingredients and is written out step by step.

How long does Ema datshi take?

At 25 minutes it is quicker than 98% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 10 minutes.

Any tips for making Ema datshi?

Once the cheese is in, cook it without stirring and then stir just once, gently: the sauce should stay thick and lumpy, not a smooth cream.

How Ema datshi compares

At 25 minutes, Ema datshi is among the 20 quickest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. Hard to find elsewhere: fresh farmer cheese (1) and green chilies (2).

Copper documents Bhutan alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.