Ezay

Ingredients

The chillies

• 8to 12 fresh green chillies
• hot ones, stems removed
• or a mixture of green and red
• or 4 dried red chillies
• soaked and drained

The rest

• 2ripe tomatoes
• roasted or raw
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 1small onion, or 2 shallots
• 100 gdatshi
• the fresh Bhutanese cheese
• or feta, or a fresh curd
• crumbled
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste

The aromatics

• half a teaspoon thingye
• Bhutanese Sichuan pepper
• or Sichuan pepper, ground
• a handful of coriander leaf
• chopped
• juice of half a lime
• optional
• 1 tablespoonoil, optional
• or a little mustard oil

To serve

• with red rice
• alongside any Bhutanese dish
• as a table relish

Directions

1. Reduce the chillies if you need to. Take a small amount at first. Datshi is a fresh soft cheese from cow or yak milk.
2. Wash hands with soap and oil, then soap again. Do not lean over a blender lid when opening it. Turn them until the skin blackens and blisters. Let them cool and peel off the skin. That takes about ten minutes.
3. Put the chillies in the mortar with the salt. Salt acts as an abrasive and helps the pounding.
4. Pound them to a rough paste. Add the garlic and pound it in. Add the onion and pound briefly. Add the tomato and crush it in. Crumble the cheese in.
5. Fold and press it through rather than pounding hard. Add the ground thingye or Sichuan pepper.
6. Add the chopped coriander. Add lime juice if you like. Add a little oil if you want a richer relish. Taste it very carefully with a small amount. Stop while it is still coarse.
7. Add the cheese by hand at the end. It should be a thick coarse paste. Add a little water if it is too stiff. Serve it in a small bowl on the table. Some include tomato and some do not.

Technique

• Pound it in a mortar rather than blending. Pounding crushes and tears instead of chopping, giving the coarse uneven texture that ezay should have; if you use a blender, pulse it and stop while it is still rough.
• Fold the cheese in by hand at the end rather than pounding it. You want visible crumbled pieces — a uniform paste loses the character entirely.
• This is genuinely hot by any standard and it is meant to be. Take a small amount at first; visitors consistently underestimate Bhutanese heat, and you can always add more.
• Wear gloves for this quantity of chillies and do not rub your eyes afterwards. Capsaicin clings to skin for hours and plain water does not remove it — wash with soap, then oil, then soap again.
• Open a window before pounding or blending. The fumes from a large quantity of chilli irritate eyes and throat, and do not lean over a blender lid when opening it.
• Salt in the mortar from the start acts as an abrasive and helps the pounding along.
• Roasting the tomatoes and chillies gives a sweeter, smokier relish; raw gives a fresher, sharper one. Both are made in Bhutan and neither is the correct version.
• Feta is the nearest substitute for datshi but it is saltier, so cut back the added salt. Any mild fresh crumbling curd works; ricotta needs draining first.
• Not every ezay contains cheese. Many are simply chilli, tomato, garlic and salt, and the cheese version is one among several.
• Thingye, the Bhutanese Sichuan pepper, gives a citrus aroma and a numbing tingle quite distinct from chilli heat — the two together are the characteristic Bhutanese sensation. Sichuan pepper substitutes closely and is worth including.
• Bhutan treats chilli as a vegetable rather than a seasoning. Ema datshi, whole chillies cooked in cheese, is the national dish, and chillies dried on rooftops in autumn are a common village sight.
• Ezay is not one recipe. Households vary it with roasted peanuts, ground sesame, fermented cheese, dried or fresh chillies, tomato or none — the atlas records the range rather than fixing a version.

Substitutions

• Feta, paneer or any mild fresh curd replaces datshi; drain ricotta well if you use it.
• Dried red chillies, soaked, replace fresh and give a deeper, smokier heat.
• Sichuan pepper replaces thingye closely.
• Roasted tomatoes replace raw for a sweeter relish, or the tomato can be left out entirely.
• Lime juice adds brightness and is optional.
• Leave the cheese out for a plainer and longer-keeping relish.

Variations

• Ema datshi, whole chillies cooked in cheese, is Bhutan’s national dish and the same two ingredients cooked instead of pounded.
• A version with roasted peanuts or ground sesame worked in is made in some households.
• Ezay made with dried chillies alone is darker and smokier.
• Goen hogay, the cucumber salad with chilli and datshi, uses the same flavours in a fresh salad.
• Nepali and Tibetan chutneys made in the same mortar are close relatives.
• Some cooks add a fermented cheese for a considerably stronger relish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ezay?

Ezay is a sauce & condiment from Bhutan: raw chilli pounded with cheese, tomato, garlic and Sichuan pepper as a table relish.

How long does Ezay take to make?

Ezay takes 20 minutes of preparation and none, or 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 1 bowl. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ezay?

Yes, within limits. Feta, paneer or any mild fresh curd replaces datshi; drain ricotta well if you use it. Dried red chillies, soaked, replace fresh and give a deeper, smokier heat. Sichuan pepper replaces thingye closely. Roasted tomatoes replace raw for a sweeter relish, or the tomato can be left out entirely. Lime juice adds brightness and is optional. Leave the cheese out for a plainer and longer-keeping relish.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ezay?

Wash hands with soap and oil, then soap again. Do not lean over a blender lid when opening it. Turn them until the skin blackens and blisters. Let them cool and peel off the skin. That takes about ten minutes.