Across the highlands
Sukuti
Nepali dried meat, fried up hot and spicy — served with chiura
90 min·4 servings
Sukuti (dried meat)
Nepalese dried meat, usually water buffalo or yak, air-dried or smoked over a fire in strips, chewy, robust and concentrated in flavour.
Sukuti is strips of seasoned meat traditionally dried in the open air or over the hearth fire in Nepal and the Himalaya, classically water buffalo or yak, nowadays also goat or beef. It is very dry, firm and fibrous, with an intense meaty taste that is often slightly smoky. Before use it is usually briefly roasted or fried and then shredded or chopped, which makes it more tender and helps it take up spices. It occasionally turns up in Nepali or Indian grocery shops and by mail order, but it can also be made at home by slicing lean meat thinly, seasoning it and drying it in a low oven or a dehydrator.
Substitute:
Unsweetened, plainly seasoned beef jerky comes closest in texture, though most commercial kinds are sweetened or heavily marinated, which noticeably changes the dish. Biltong also works for texture but carries a vinegar and coriander note, and neither has the smoke or the gamy depth of buffalo or yak.
Used in · 1 recipe