CHATAMARI: Nepali Pizza

Fresh, crunchy, juicy and full of spicy

Newari food is the most popular and unique food in Nepal along with being delicious. One of such popular Newari dish is known as Chatamari. It is a repe made out of rice flour with chopped or ground red meat toppings and seasoned with salt and pepper. It is similar to South Indian dish Dosa but it is not rolled up and served with toppings inside. It is like pancakes but people prepare chatamari with toppings. It  looks rich, smells awesome and served like pizza. The stuffings is so good. The wrap is very thin so while eating , the stuffings brust inside the mouth.

Chatamari are traditionally made for a puja. When you make it for puja (per, it is just plain rice crepe with no toppings. This is very easy to make and so very tasty.There are many varieties of Chatamari like Egg Chatamari, Keema Chatamari and Plain Chatamari.

How to prepare chatamari???

For topping, heat oil in a pan and fry onion, garlic and ginger until they turn light brown. After that, add minced meat, salt and pepper. When it’s about to be done, add tomatoes and cook it until the meat is ready. Make sure to mix everything well.

Rice base/lentil base

First of all, soak black lentil in water overnight or until the black coating is removed. Then, rinse the lentils and remove the black coating. Mix the lentil paste with the rice flour and make a thin paste. Now, heat a flat pan on medium heat and put the paste on the hot pan. Roll it while you pour it and make sure it turns as thin as a paper sheet. Then, put the toppings on the paste and cook it until the paste is done. If any burnt is left behind on the pan, use a damp cloth to wipe it out. Repeat the process for the remaining paste as well. Your Chatamari is ready to serve.

Chatamari is now widely eaten as a snack, and has become popular among other cultures too. Many restaurants in Kathmandu serve chatānmari as an appetizer. There are also small eateries which serve chatānmari as the main item on their menu.

YOMARI: Sweet rice flour dumplings

Delicacy of Newars: Yomari

Yomari is the delicious steamed bread with mouth watering filling made from a new harvest rice flour. It consists of an external covering of rice flour and inner content of sweet substances such as chakku, khuwa etc. This delicacy plays an important role in newar society.Yomari is the key part of the Newari festival of Yomari punhi.

Yomari punhi is the festival which is celebrated on the second day of full moon day when prayers are offered during which the yomari's are stored and not eaten on that day. So, on fourth and final day, newari people consume it as a gift from goddess and this practise marks the end of festival, Yomari punhi.

Yomari is easy and quick to make. To make this sweet dumplings, we have four basic steps. Firstly, the rice flour is kneaded into a smooth dough and left covered with damp towel. Secondly, the filling is prepared. thirdly, the rice dough is shaped into small pockets then the filling is added and sealed then steamed lastly.It is delicious if it is eaten warm than cold. The filling inside it gives awesome taste. It is the perfect combination of sweet filling with a great flavours. The filling varies according to the family preferences. It may include khuwaa, chakkhu, spicy ground and bean paste, roasted and ground sesame and many more.

Yomari plays an important role in many auspicious ceremony in Nw+ewar community such as rice feeding ceremony of child, Dhau-Baji i.e celebration of expectant mother, as a sagun food, Indrajatra, Samaya-baji and many more.

JUJU DHAU: The King of Yogurts

Sweet, creamy, thick, smooth - mouthwatering yogurt with an extra ordinary taste and texture

Juju Dhau is a sweetened custard- like yogurt that comes from Bhaktapur, Nepal. A famous place for many things , from all the inspiring durbar squares, which is also the world heritage site and historic pagoda, Nyatapola and not to forget people's way of life which is still traditional. This city of god and land of temple is famous for special curd, Juju dhau which literally means "KING OF YOGURT" in Newari language. It is the important component of all feast and celebrations.

This is so sweet, creamy and the texture is just amazing. It is thick and soft that we cannot separate solid and liduid like we can do it in other dairy and packets yogurts. It's not only the ingredients that made juju dhau so special but the traditional method of preparation and amazing texture gives thiis desert, the consistency it has and makes it a very perfect desert to enjoy any time of day with anyone.

How to prepare Juju dhau?

While cow's milk is used to make regular yogurt, fresh buffalo milk is traditionally used for Juju Dhau, resulting in a richer taste and texture. To make Juju Dhau, the milk is boiled, sweetened, mixed with culture, and poured into decorative, natural red clay pot called maato ko kataaro. It is then placed in a warm area, on a bed of paddy husks (the papery covering of rice grains), covered with another kataaro on top, and wrapped in several thick cotton blankets to maintain a warm temperature while the yogurt sets. Because the clay pots are porous, the excess liquid from the yogurt slowly evaporates, leaving a delicious, thick, smooth and creamy yogurt. It is then transported and sold in the market in the same clay pots.

 A visit to Bhaktapur is not complete without sampling a bowl of Juju Dhau.

CHOILA: Grilled Spiced Meat

Newari non-vegetarian grilled spicy dish.

Spicy and hot meat dish, either roasted or boiled is what we call choila. This is much loved  meat dish in newari cuisine which is also a part of samey baji (Beaten rice with assortment of bean, meat, spicy potatoes, lentil patty, soyabean and achar). It's an authentic recipe from Newari cuisine and eaten as a snack or an entree.It is not exactly but a kind of buff chilli. This is a popular newari need dish, found in every corner of the kathmandu valley and around.

There are two types of choila dish, the hakku choila and mana choila. Hakku choila is the black grilled meat whereas mana choila is the boiled meat. Mana choila is usually made from offals like tripe and liver. It's an exquisite but acquired amazing taste. This grilled and spicy dish is generally eaten with flattened rice / beaten rice and the amazing homemade wine. It is the compulsory dish in Newari bhoj.

How Choila is Prepared?

Traditionally, chhoila is made from buffalo meat by  roasting in a open fire made from hay. As only the tender cut of meat is used, the hay fire quickly chars the meat on the outside but cooking it only medium rare. This awesome method infuses meat with a smoky and earthy flavour which is just out of this world.

I always insist my mom to make this dish when I have a craving for a spicy and hot food. Mom says it's so simple and easy yet very tasty dish.