"Growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, Tenzin Yeshi loved the buzz of excitement as Losar, the New Year celebration, approached in her Tibetan community. Ms. Yeshi recalls how nomadic traders, clad in heavy wool coats, would start gathering around one of the city's largest stupas, or Buddhist monuments, to sell yak meat. It was one of those little signs that made you know Losar was coming, she said."
"Some of that meat would be destined for guthuk, a nourishing soup that anchors Nyi-shu-gu, the 29th day of the 12th month of the Tibetan calendar. The occasion, which falls on Monday this year, is a moment to gather for dinners and to cleanse the home, body and spirit in the lead-up to Losar, the largely Buddhist celebration observed across the Himalayas and their diaspora, with exact dates varying among ethnic groups and regions."
Preparing and sharing guthuk precedes Losar as a ritual to banish misfortune and cleanse home, body and spirit. Guthuk is a Tibetan thukpa with handmade noodles, vegetables and meat in savory broth, traditionally containing at least nine ingredients; 'gu' means nine and 'thuk' means noodles. Nyi-shu-gu, the 29th day of the 12th Tibetan month, centers on gatherings where a dumpling game hides tokens or notes that offer fortunes or judgments. The timing follows an inauspicious Year of the Wood Snake and ushers in the Year of the Fire Horse, inspiring hope and transformation across Himalayan communities and their diaspora.
Read at cooking.nytimes.com
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