People from all over the world call Oxford their home, and there are all sorts of different curries that are made and enjoyed here.

Most of us are familiar with Indian and Thai curry, but Taste Tibet brings Oxford something altogether much rarer: Himalayan curry.

We are always amazed by the number of people in Oxford who have visited Tibet. At our stall in Oxford’s Gloucester Green Market, our customers often reminisce about momos and yak butter tea, but most do not have a memory of curry, and sometimes question whether it is really a Tibetan thing.

As to what characterises Tibetan food, given the size of the country, a brief description is a tall order. Tibet is a huge and diverse region. Huge swathes of northern Tibet are barren and largely inaccessible, and people there survive on a basic diet that is heavy in meat and barley. Taste Tibet has its roots in eastern Tibet, where the land is green and plentiful, and the food is very diverse.

This Taste Tibet Himalayan curry spread represents the unique experiences of Chef Yeshi Jampa. Born and raised in rural Tibet, Yeshi lived a nomadic life, herding yaks and sheep at high altitude, and sleeping in tents made of yak hair.

In Tibet almost anyone can rustle up a good meal, and on the mountains the men must fend for themselves, and often emerge as the best chefs of all. Yeshi’s father and uncles taught him to cook on an open fire at a very young age.

After he left Tibet, Yeshi lived in north and south India for many years, where he became influenced by new tastes and cooking methods. His brother was the head chef at a monastery of 5,000 monks, and Yeshi, who lived in the monastery grounds for four years, took a lot of learning there. His explorations in food, exposures to different flavours in India, and experimental cooking style are all captured in the Taste Tibet menu.

Loosely speaking, Himalayan curry, is less oily than Indian curry, and has a much cleaner, healthier feel. It is also less spicy – unless you pile on the tongue-tingling home-made chilli that is ubiquitous in Tibet, and with which anyone who has eaten our food is surely familiar.

Finally, Tibetan people love yoghurt, but they rarely cook with it, so don’t expect your Tibetan chef to dish up much in the way of yoghurt-based curries. This means that our vegetarian curries are always vegan. We often use fresh tomatoes as a base, or coconut milk, which is famously nutritious, as well as deliciously creamy.

The bottom line is that curry is a great comfort food, and Tibetan people excel in it. Living outdoors for so many months of the year, and cooking by campfire, Tibetan people are great at producing simple, warming and filling foods from basic provisions.

Yeshi moved to the UK in 2011. We met in the Indian Himalayan foothills in 2009, and by early 2014 he was busy cooking for our family of four here in Oxford. But he was itching to bring Tibetan food to a larger audience. We started Taste Tibet in the summer of 2014, and our first gig was on Canal Street in Jericho for the annual Jericho Street Fair. Canal Street was the first place that we lived in Oxford, so in many ways this felt like a homecoming as opposed to a new venture.

Today, Yeshi replicates Tibetan outdoor cooking on a stall at Oxford’s Gloucester Green, at university college balls and at music festivals throughout the summer.

No British weather can faze this man, given the extreme conditions in which he learned to cook.

With months of damp, muddy festivals under our belt, Taste Tibet has recently reopened the stall at Gloucester Green Market, and we are looking forward to taking on British winter with our ever-changing menu of Tibetan momo dumplings and other Himalayan soul foods.

As the days get colder, October is a fitting time for National Curry Week. If you have never tried Himalayan curry before, Taste Tibet always has three different Himalayan curry dishes to sample at our stall in Oxford’s Gloucester Green Market. They are all gluten, dairy and nut free, and this week, two of them are vegan. Watch us cook from 9am, or eat with us from 11 o’clock onwards.

In celebration of National Curry Week, (October 12-18) we are offering those who quote us National Curry Week at the stall this Wednesday their choice of Himalayan curry, rice and Tibetan dal for just £5. tastetibet.com