Kewa Datshi

What it really is

A Bhutanese potato and cheese stew, gently simmered with chilli and aromatics.

Kewa datshi combines potatoes (kewa) with cheese (datshi), often with chilli and aromatics. Bhutan Travel lists it among the country’s popular traditional dishes. The cheese and chilli proportions vary, so the stew can range from mild and creamy to quite hot.

Kewa datshi joins kewa (potato) and datshi (cheese) in a Bhutanese stew. Bhutan Travel lists it among traditional local dishes. Potatoes simmer until tender in a cheese-rich sauce, while chilli and aromatics give the dish a warm edge. Recipes differ in how much chilli is used and whether the sauce is loose or thick. Unlike ema datshi, the defining bulk here is potato; chilli and cheese season and bind the potato pieces.

How it's served

• Served warm with rice as a main or shared side.
• Potatoes are simmered until tender in the cheese sauce.

Serve warm with rice as a main or shared side. The potato should be tender but still recognizable in pieces, coated by the cheese sauce. A mild version is possible, but menus should not suggest that the dish contains no chilli unless the recipe actually omits it. Cheese type and butter use can change both saltiness and richness.

How to write it on the menu

• Describe the chilli level accurately for the restaurant’s version.
• Declare milk from the cheese and butter.

Identify potatoes, cheese and chilli, and declare milk for cheese and butter. State whether the kitchen's version is mild or hot and note the cheese used. Do not describe it as a plain potato curry, which would omit its dairy-based sauce.