Nepal's signature roadside kebab: cubes of goat, pork, or chicken rubbed with timur (Sichuan-type pepper), ginger-garlic, and mustard oil, then threaded on skewers and fire-roasted over natural wood, most famously along the Dharan-Dhankuta belt in eastern Nepal. Its dry-heat marinated-skewer method places it squarely in the South Asian kebab lineage despite the Nepali name.
Also known as: sekuwa, sekuwa kebab, nepali sekuwa, pork sekuwa, chicken sekuwa, mutton sekuwa, sekuwa skewers, sikuwa
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g goat leg (or pork/chicken thigh), 3 cm cubes
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp timur (Sichuan-type pepper), crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin and coriander
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 red onion, sliced, plus lemon wedges
- beaten rice (chiura), to serve
How to make it
- 1
Rub the goat with ginger-garlic paste, timur, cumin-coriander, turmeric, mustard oil and salt; marinate 4 hours so the timur's citrus-numbing edge sinks in.
- 2
Thread onto skewers leaving small gaps — highway sekuwa cooks in smoky wood heat that must circulate between cubes.
- 3
Grill over wood embers or medium-hot charcoal 12-15 minutes, turning every few minutes; goat wants a firm char and a just-cooked chew, not fall-apart softness.
- 4
Rest briefly, then chop or slide off the skewers.
- 5
Serve with raw onion, lemon and a fistful of chiura as the roadside stalls do.
Pro tip: Heat the mustard oil to smoking and cool it before it touches the marinade — raw it tastes harshly bitter, tamed it turns fragrant.
