Rildok is a Sherpa dish and it is made by beating, not mashing. Boiled potatoes are peeled hot, cooled, then pounded in a tall wooden mortar for several minutes until the starch breaks down and the mass turns springy and sticky enough to hold a shape, closer in behaviour to pounded rice cake than to anything in a European kitchen. The balls are rolled between wet palms and dropped into a thin buttered broth sharpened with timur. It belongs to the villages of the high country and to the Sherpa and Tibetan neighbourhoods of Kathmandu, around Boudha and Swoyambhu, where it has moved from a household dish to something people queue for in winter. Electric blenders and stone mortars have replaced the wooden one in most kitchens, and the beating remains the only step that matters.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg floury potatoes (unpeeled)
- 1 tsp salt (for the boiling water)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion (finely sliced)
- 5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 cm ginger (finely chopped)
- ½ tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 litre water or light stock
- 2 dried red chillies
- 3 spring onions (sliced)
- a few coriander leaves
METHOD
- Boil the potatoes whole in salted water until a knife passes through with no resistance, about 25 minutes depending on size.
- Drain and peel them while they are still too hot to hold comfortably, using a cloth. Spread the peeled potatoes on a large plate and leave until they are warm rather than hot.
- Pound them in a wooden mortar, or grate them coarsely and then beat the shreds with the base of a heavy glass, for 5 to 8 minutes. The mass will change from crumbly to springy and will start pulling back on itself. Stop when there are no lumps left.
- Melt the butter in a pot and cook the onion, garlic and ginger over a medium heat for 6 minutes, until soft and pale gold.
- Add the water, dried chillies, ground peppercorns and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Wet your palms, pinch off pieces of the potato dough about the size of a walnut and roll them into smooth balls. Lower them into the simmering broth as you go.
- Simmer very gently for 5 minutes without stirring hard, so the balls stay whole. Scatter the spring onions and coriander over and serve hot.