Buffalo or goat meat air-dried into hard strips and then fried with chilli and onion. Hill households dry it above the kitchen fire after a slaughter; the smoked strips travel well and are a standard bar snack in Kathmandu.
The method is a cooking hearth burning daily under a hanging line for days on end — smoke and gentle heat together — and the drying is what preserves the meat; an oven does not substitute for it.
What goes into it
- buffalo or goat, cut in strips
- salt
- turmeric and chilli
- hearth smoke
How it is made
The meat is cut into strips, rubbed with salt and turmeric, and hung on a line above the kitchen fire where the daily cooking smokes and dries it over days or weeks. The household fire does the work. The strips end dark and hard, and are pounded or fried before eating.
How long it takes: several days to weeks above the hearth
How it is eaten
Fried with onion, chilli, ginger and timur pepper as a snack with raksi or beer.
History
Hill households dry meat above the kitchen fire after slaughter; the smoked strips travel well and are a standard bar snack in Kathmandu.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sukuti?
Sukuti is a charcuterie & cured from Nepal: buffalo or goat meat air-dried into hard strips, then fried with chilli and onion. Hill households dry meat above the kitchen fire after slaughter; the smoked strips travel well and are a standard bar snack in Kathmandu.
How is Sukuti made?
The meat is cut into strips, rubbed with salt and turmeric, and hung on a line above the kitchen fire where the daily cooking smokes and dries it over days or weeks. The household fire does the work. The strips end dark and hard, and are pounded or fried before eating. It takes several days to weeks above the hearth.
Can I make Sukuti at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. The method is a cooking hearth burning daily under a hanging line for days on end — smoke and gentle heat together — and the drying is what preserves the meat; an oven does not substitute for it.
What goes into Sukuti?
Buffalo or goat, cut in strips, salt, turmeric and chilli, hearth smoke.
How is Sukuti eaten?
Fried with onion, chilli, ginger and timur pepper as a snack with raksi or beer.
