A Newari specialty from the Kathmandu Valley: water-buffalo meat grilled or seared over flame, then sliced and tossed while hot with raw mustard oil, fenugreek tempering, chili, and timur; 'haku' (black) choila keeps the char-smoked style. It functions as a deconstructed kebab, eaten with beaten rice (chiura) at Newari feasts and bhattis.
Also known as chhwela, chhoyla, buff choila.
Reference video
Ingredients
- 600 g water-buffalo steak or beef/chicken thigh, whole pieces
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 4 garlic cloves, minced, plus 2 tbsp julienned ginger
- 2 tsp timur, crushed
- 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp chili powder
- 3 spring onions, sliced, plus a handful of coriander
- 1.5 tsp salt
- chiura (beaten rice), to serve
How to make it
- 1
Grill the meat in whole pieces over open flame or fierce coals until charred outside and medium within, about 4-5 minutes a side; the smoke is half the dish.
- 2
Slice against the grain into thin strips and pile into a wide bowl with salt, turmeric, chili, timur, ginger and spring onion.
- 3
Heat the mustard oil in a small pan to smoking, drop in the fenugreek seeds until they darken, then the garlic for 10 seconds.
- 4
Pour this crackling oil directly over the seasoned meat — the sizzle is the Newari tempering that binds everything.
- 5
Toss, rest 10 minutes so the strips drink the oil, and serve at room temperature with coriander and chiura.
Pro tip: Choila is a dressed salad, not a hot stir-fry — let it sit before serving; the flavor peaks as the meat cools into the spiced oil.
Where Choila comes from
It functions as a deconstructed kebab — the fire does its work first, and the seasoning is applied afterwards rather than before. It is eaten with beaten rice at Newari feasts and in the bhattis (taverns) of Kathmandu and Patan, and it is one of the defining dishes of a cuisine that remains distinct from the wider Nepali kitchen.
How Choila is cooked
The order is the technique and it is the reverse of most kebabs. Buffalo is grilled over flame until charred outside and still pink within, then sliced and tossed while hot with the seasoning — so the flavours hit hot meat and bloom, rather than being cooked onto it.
The tempering (jhaneko) is a separate operation: mustard oil heated to smoking with fenugreek seeds until they darken, then poured over the meat. Fenugreek burns quickly and turns bitter, so the window between fragrant and ruined is a few seconds. That tempering, poured hot, is what carries the aroma through the dish.
Ingredients and shopping
Water buffalo is traditional and gives the correct dense texture; beef is the practical substitute and goat is used in some households. A cut with some fat, grilled whole in a slab and then sliced rather than cubed before cooking.
Mustard oil, timur, dried red chilli, fenugreek seed, garlic, ginger, and a great deal of fresh coriander. Some versions add a squeeze of lime and finely chopped green chilli raw at the end. Beaten rice (chiura) to serve.
How Choila is served
With beaten rice (chiura), and often with black soybeans and a simple achar, at a Newari feast or in a bhatti. Local raksi or aila to drink. It is eaten at room temperature as often as hot, and it is one of the standard items in a Newari samay baji platter.
Common mistakes
Seasoning before grilling
Choila is seasoned after the fire, while the meat is hot. Marinating first makes it a different dish.
Burning the fenugreek
It goes from fragrant to bitter in seconds. Watch it in the hot oil and pull it the moment it darkens.
Cooking the meat through
It should be charred outside and pink within, then sliced. Cooked through, it turns dry and chewy once tossed.
Skipping the timur
As in sekuwa, timur is the defining Himalayan note. Without it the dish loses its identity.
Choila: questions and answers
What meat is choila made from?
Water buffalo traditionally. Beef is the usual substitute and goat is used in some households.
What is haku choila?
The black version, which keeps the char-smoked style from the flame. It is the form most associated with the dish.
Sources and further reading
- Choila — Wikipedia
- Recipe for Newari traditional delicacy: Choila — The Washburn Review
