Rice is a high-status dish and remains the favorite food in lower regions where it's plentiful.
The main food of most Hill families is dhiro, a cooked mush of maize or millet flour eaten alone, with fried vegetables, or with a thin soup. Among the highland Bhotia the staple is Tibetan tsampa, ground roasted barley flour, just as in Tibet. In highland mountain regions like the Sherpa homeland of Khumbu, the staff of life is boiled potatoes, peeled and eaten with salt and a relish of pounded chilis and garlic. This is much better than it sounds, as high-altitude potatoes are marvellously tasty. Sherpa women often make rigi kur, delicious crispy potato pancakes served with a big lump of yak butter.