Haku Choila – Recipe for the Classic and Easy Newari Dish

A lot of you know what this dish is. This juicy tender roasted meat is one of the most well-known dishes of the Newar community along with Yomari and Chatamari.

Haku Choila has another Varient – Man Choila, where the meat is boiled instead of Roasted. If you want to know more about this variant, you can follow the link at the end of this article. For now, let’s look at the recipe of Haku Choila.

Ingredients of Haku Choila

Buffalo meat 500 grams
Dried chilly 5/6 pieces
Green onion 20 grams
Mustard oil 10 Ml
Coriander 10 grams
Salt 1 tablespoon
Chilly 1.5tea spoon (optional)
Cumin 1 tablespoon
Garlic 10 cloves
Ginger 20 gram
Fenugreek 20 grams
Wheat Straw 1/2Kg (for traditional way)

Note* The ingredients are for 4 portions of 50 grams of Meat per portion.

How to make Haku Choila

Man Choila - Recipe for the Soft and Healthy Meat Dish

To make a Haku Choila, all you have to do is roast the meat over the fire. After that, all you have to do is it with some spices and voila, you have your Haku Choila ready. It should be noted if you are making this dish in a traditional and cultural way, the fire must be fueled purely by wheat straw. This was because the wheat straw was one of the most common fuels back in the day. The smoke from this type of fire is also said to make the meat more tender. In everyday life, as long as you roast the meat over direct fire, it will be a Haku Choila.

Step 1 Roast the meat

– Cut the meat into long strips
– Use a fork to roast it in an open fire.
-Do not use any spices or oils in this process or the meat will lose the texture you expect from the Haku Choila.

Step 2 Chop the Meat

– Chop the meat into medium-sized chunks. Too thin and meat will not taste as you would expect – too thick and it will be hard to chew.

Step 3 Prepare the spices

– Make a paste from Ginger and Garlic
– Chop the green garlic into medium-sized pieces
– Deep Fry the Fenugreek and dried chilly till Dark Brown.

Step 4 Mix and Serve

– Mix the spices to the chunks of meat with the help of mustard oil.
– Garnish and Serve

Final Thoughts

If you are someone who is into the Newari language, you might know that the name of this dish, explains what this dish is. It is made up of two words, Haku meaning black, and Choila which is an abbreviation of the phrase Chuyaatagu Laa meaning roasted meat. Now there is a reason why this dish such an iconic one. It is because Haku Choila is used almost everywhere, from religious and cultural practices to casual eating.

Also, it should be noted that it is better to use meat that doesn’t have any bones, fat, or skin attached to them. This type of meat has the best texture and flavor for Haku Choila.

Thank you for reading till the end and as always, if you have any feedback for us, do let us know in the comments down below.