While Britain fights the growing epidemic of obesity among young people, the ethos behind Nepalese cuisine could be just the remedy the nation needs.

Inspired by the mountainous terrain and natural offerings of its land, traditional Nepalese recipes are derived from natural resources found in villages.

Hundreds of varieties of rice are grown in fields while are spices such as ginger, turmeric and coriander are grown, picked and ground together to create the full flavour found in authentic Gurkha curries.

While the ingredients and way in which dishes are cooked can differ across regions, a typical Nepalese meal will normally include three main elements.

These are ‘dahl’ — lentil soup with a light spicy flavour, ‘bhat’ — rice, ‘tarkari’ — meat and vegetables, and breads ‘roti’ or ‘chapattis’, which are flat dough pancakes.

The basis of most Gurkha recipes is ‘masala’ which can be prepared in two ways.

Fresh masala is made by washing ingredients before crushing them into a smooth paste.

Ingredients for dry masala are washed, dried and roasted in the oven before being crushed into a powder.

Garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander are just some of the wide array of herbs and spices typically available in any kitchen where Nepalese food is prepared regularly.

Fresh vegetables such as aubergine, okra — or ladies fingers — and spinach leaves are staple additions to most dishes.

Although several ingredients used in Nepalese dishes are also used in Indian cuisine, the two are distinct.

Pemba Lama served as a chef in the British Army for 23 years before he began teaching army chefs as civilian instructional officer at the Defence Food Services School in Aldershot.

He said people often think Indian and Nepalese food are the same because the dishes have similar names.

“Nepalese food and Indian food are two very different types of cuisine,” Mr Lama said.

“They both use the same spices but a typical Nepalese curry is not made from curry powder and we do not mix dairy with meat.

“People get confused beca-use we both cook curry but Indian curries contain things like coconut milk and cream in the sauce and we do not.

“In Nepalese cooking, everything is very light and nutritious and hardly contains any fat. A complete typical Nepalese meal always starts with rice.

“That is the beauty of our food. It is very tasty and beneficial to your health. There is a lot of protein foods like lentil and most Nepalese people eat this every day — even if they cannot afford the meat.”

Mutton and chicken are cheap, quick to cook and plentiful in Nepalese towns, and are the usual meat used for curries.

In more remote rural areas, buffalo and yak are frequently used. Fish and vegetable curries can also be made although the majority of Nepalese people are meat-eaters.

On April 25, Mr Lama plans to share his passion for Nepalese cuisine by hosting an open-air cook-off outside the Wellington Centre in Aldershot.

People will be invited to sample a Gurkha lamb or chicken curry cooked by Army chef Hari Rai and his team of Nepalese chefs.

Proceeds from the day will be donated to the Army Benevolent Fund and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Mr Rai said: “Once the people of Aldershot taste the Gurkha curry they won’t feel like having any other curry again.

“My mission is to make Gurkha curry the most popular curry in Europe before I die.”

For the Nepalese version of this feature click here.