Sadheko (also spelled sandeko) is a cold, spicy salad belonging to Newari cuisine. It comes in different varieties — there’s batmas sadheko, with crunchy dried soybeans, and wai-wai sadheko, using broken uncooked instant noodles — but the most popular (and our favorite) is potato and peanut (badam). Peanuts, green chilies, onion, tomato, fresh coriander (cilantro), ginger, garlic, and masala spices are tossed together—and none of them are cooked, so the result is rather pungent! Badam sadheko is usually very, very spicy because of all the fresh green chili added to it. When you try this, definitely have a cooling drink or some yoghurt on hand to put out the fire.
Where: Mustang Thakali Kitchen (Patan 44700, map) serves up a generous plate of badam sadheko, which can be shared by friends while drinking, or eaten as a side dish (like a salad) with a more substantial meal. Mustang is a basic midrange restaurant in the rather upmarket Jhamsikhel area, and is popular with both locals and foreigners seeking a reliable but no-frills Nepali meal.
When: Daily,10am-9pm
Order: Badam sadheko (Rs 225), which is every bit as fresh and spicy as it should be here. And might we recommend washing it down with a cold local beer? Try a Gorkha or an Everest lager beer.
Alternatively: For a chilled-out Friday night, get your spicy peanut sadheko (and drink of choice) at Dhokaima Café (Patandhoka Road, Patan 44700, map). Its version might be our favorite take on this dish—we somehow find Dhokaima’s badam sadheko just a little bit crunchier than others—but we prefer Mustang Thakali, above, for a full Nepali meal.
