Newari Specialties
Chhwela (Choila)
छोइला
Chhwela is charred, heavily spiced buffalo meat, and it is probably the single dish most people associate with Newar cooking. The classic haku chhwela is scorched over a rice-straw fire so the smoke soaks into the meat before it is tossed with mustard oil, chilli and timur; the gentler manaa chhwela boils the meat first and skips the char. It is standard on the Samay Baji platter and standard again in the evening, eaten with beaten rice and a glass of aila.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
At the stove
Method
Rub the whole piece of meat with a little salt and turmeric and leave it for 15 minutes.
For haku chhwela, sear the meat directly over glowing charcoal or a rice-straw fire, turning often, until the outside is properly blackened in patches and the inside is just cooked. Over a gas hob, use a dry cast-iron pan on high heat and accept a slightly cleaner flavour.
For manaa chhwela, simmer the meat in salted water with a pinch of turmeric for 25 to 30 minutes instead, then drain and pat dry.
Let the meat rest for 10 minutes, then cut it against the grain into rough, bite-sized slices — hand-cut and uneven, not neat cubes.
Toss the warm meat with the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, timur, cumin, turmeric and salt until every piece is coated.
Heat the mustard oil until it smokes, add the fenugreek seeds and dried chillies, and let them colour for a few seconds only.
Pour the hot oil over the meat and mix hard so the spices bloom.
Fold in the onion, spring onion and coriander, squeeze over the lime, and serve at room temperature with beaten rice.
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