Sekuwa is a Nepalese traditional roasted meat. It is popular street food in Nepal. Typically, sekuwa is served with rice, dal, achar, and vegetable. To make Nepalese style sekuwa you will need sekuwa masala.
Traditionally, sekuwa is roasted in a natural wood fire, and when the meat is raw, herbs and masala is added to it. You can also make sekuwa in the oven. You can prepare sekuwa with chicken, goat, and buff meat. Buff sekuwa and chicken sekuwa are popular than other sekuwa in Nepal.
This article is base on the chicken sekuwa recipe. If you want to make buff sekuwa or goat meat sekuwa, you can follow the same instruction and the same spices. You can use sekuwa masala while preparing other meat dishes as well
However, you will find many recipes to make sekuwa. The method of making sekuwa is pretty much the same, but some spices may vary. This recipe uses spices that are typically used while preparing sekuwa.
Before making sekuwa, chicken is first marinated.
Why Marinate?
Marinating is the process that allows the meat to soak all the flavor, giving it a good texture. When the chicken is left overnight to marinate, it soaks all the masalas, making a thin surface of spices on the meat.
However, marinating time depends upon the recipe and type of dish you are cooking. To prepare sekuwa, you have to marinate chicken for at least 6 hours. But it would be much better if you allow the chicken to marinate overnight.
Marination chicken makes it soft and juicer. Actually, marination is the key factor in making delicious sekuwa. Whether you make buff sekuwa or goat meat sekuwa, marinating will give texture to every type of meat.
Also, marinating brings moisture to the meat, which is why meat becomes juicier and softer. The longer the chicken or any meat is left to marinate, the tastier it becomes.
When marinating chicken, ensure that you cover the chicken well. You can use a zip-top bag to allow the chicken to marinate. If you don’t have a zip-top bag, you can just put the chicken in a bowl and cover it with a lid.
While marinating, make sure you don’t use reactive material. Better to marinate the chicken in a plastic zip-top bag or in a glass bowl. If you are using a glass bowl to marinate chicken, you should be using a glass lid. Ensure you are using a non-reactive lid.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of chicken breast
- Mustard oil
- Lemon
- Red Onion
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Turmeric powder
- Nutmeg
- Dried red chilies
- Peppercorn
- Sekuwa masala
- Ginger and garlic
- Salt
- Green onion
- Curd
Instruction to make chicken sekuwa
Step 1:
The first step is to drain the chicken. You may use a colander to drain chicken. If you don’t have a colander, you put the chicken in a bowl, wash it with water, and drain the water. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces.
Step 2:
Next, you will need a chop board and knife. You need to chop one large red onion roughly. Put it aside.
Step 3:
Take two to three steams of green onion and again start chopping it roughly.
Step 4:
Take grinder from the kitchen cabinet. The next step is the grind all whole spices. If you don’t have coriander seed and cumin seed, you can use coriander powder and cumin powder as well. But it’s always better to make fresh powder, as it brings flavor to sekuwa.
Step 5:
In the grinder, add one teaspoon cumin seed, one teaspoon coriander seeds, and one red chili. You can add up red chilies depending upon your taste. If you don’t prefer spicy food, instead of dried red chili, you can use red chili powder while rubbing spices to chicken.
Grind whole spices into powder form and transfer them to the bowl.
Step 6:
You need to grind red onion, green onion, ginger, and garlic in the same grinder. Don’t wash the grinder. You will need one-inch ginger two garlic cloves. Chop ginger into small pieces. You also need to chop garlic into small pieces before grinding it.
Step7:
In the grinder, add roughly chopped red onion, roughly chopped green onion, chopped ginger, chopped garlic cloves, and one teaspoon peppercorn. Grind them together until it turns into a smooth paste. Transfer them into a bowl.
Step 8:
Now you need to grate nutmeg. If you have grated nutmeg, you can skip this step. But if you don’t have one, take the grater out of the cabinet and start grating nutmeg. You need one teaspoon of grated nutmeg.
Step 9:
Take a lemon to extract juice from it. Slice a lemon into two halves and squeeze lemon to get two tablespoons of lemon juice. Transfer lemon juice to a small bowl.
Step 10:
Once you are ready with all the ingredients, you can get ready to marinate. Take a big bowl to marinate chicken for sekuwa.
Step 11:
In a big bowl, put chicken pieces. Then add onion, ginger-garlic, and peppercorn paste. Rub it well to the chicken.
Step 12:
Add powder spices. If you have skipped using dried red chili, you can add red chili powder to this step.
Step 13:
Then add one teaspoon grated nutmeg, one teaspoon turmeric powder, one teaspoon Sekuwa masala powder, two tablespoon lemon juice, and salt according to your taste. Rub the spices to the chicken.
Step 14:
Add four tablespoons of mustard oil. Massage the chicken pieces. Ensure all the chicken pieces are perfectly coated with spices.
Step 15:
Then add a half cup of curd to the chicken. Again, massage chicken pieces.
Let it rest overnight.
Step 16:
Preheat oven to 180 C. Grill the chicken pieces for 25 minutes in the oven. Then you can cook sekuwa in direct flame.
Chicken sekuwa is ready to be served. You can serve chicken sekuwa with a slice of lemon and onion