Country lane — palatial houses (5)

I believe the answer is:

nepal

'country' is the definition.
(I know that Nepal is a Asian country)

'lane palatial houses' is the wordplay.
'houses' indicates a hidden word (part of the clue houses the answer).
'NEPAL' can be found hidden inside 'lane palatial'.

(Other definitions for nepal that I've seen before include "Himalayan republic" , "mountain state" , "Small country high in the Himalayas" , "place in the mountains ..." , "hilly part of Asia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.