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The main ingredient of tsampa is barley flour. When eating, add a small amount of buttered tea, milk dregs, and sugar into the barley flour and mix them evenly, then knead it into a ball by hand. It is convenient to eat, carry and deposit. And it has rich nutrition. It is also the best food to satisfy hunger and keep out the cold. Therefore, tsampa has become one of the traditional staple foods in Tibet.

Most Tibetans will eat tsampa three times a day. When Tibetans celebrate Tibetan New Year, each family should place “Zhusuo Maqi” (a wooden bucket) on Tibetan-type ark, then fill it with tsampa, ginseng fruit, and other food. When neighbors, relatives, and friends visit, the host will serve up the "Zhusuo Maqi." The guests with their hands grab a bit of tsampa and throw it into the air three times, and then grab a bit into their mouths, and then say: "Tashi Delek" (good luck).