Bini's Kitchen Delivers Delicious Nepalese Dishes

Dumplings and curries from Nepal

"I think cooking is in my blood," says Binita Pradhan, owner of Bini's Kitchen. She might have a case: Her mother cooked for the Nepalese royal family in the 1960s.

Pradhan, who also attended cooking school in Bombay, joined La Cocina's business incubation program nearly a year ago. Now she cooks Nepalese dishes in La Cocina's kitchens.

Every week she prepares a different menu, available for pickup or delivery, and posts photos of the dishes on her website. (She prefers two days' notice for orders.)

A few weeks ago, we ordered a three-person dinner ($40, plus $5 delivery). We ended up with a feast for six, bowls overflowing with canary-yellow buttered rice studded with cumin seeds; a basic split-pea dal; a creamy, spiced eggplant; and raita with cucumbers and toasted cumin.

The headliner of that meal? Pradhan's Gorkha Chicken. She marinates chicken in yogurt, then braises it with butter, heaps of aromatics, and spices that she sun-dries and grinds herself.

Bini's Kitchen also sets up a tent at Off the Grid's Friday-night events at Fort Mason. Order the turkey momo ($6 for 8 pieces), steamed dumplings filled with spiced, ground meat and served with roast-tomato-and-cilantro achar.