Destination
Kathmandu
The story
Keema anda chatamari is Kathmandu's Newari "pizza": a soft, savoury rice-flour crepe (chatamari) is cooked on a hot dry pan, then topped while still on the heat with spiced minced buffalo (keema), a cracked egg, sliced onion, green chili and a scatter of fresh coriander. The pan is covered for a minute so the egg sets softly. The finished chatamari is served whole, cut into wedges or eaten in one folded piece. Sold at every Newari restaurant and market stall in Kathmandu, especially at the Newari lunch counters in Ason, Bhaktapur and Patan, and increasingly seen in modern Nepali restaurants as a takeaway snack.
Method
Whisk rice flour, salt, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, water and oil in a bowl until smooth. The batter should be thin — like heavy cream, not pancake batter. Rest 30 minutes.
Warm mustard oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook onion 4 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, cook 60 seconds. Add mince, break up, brown 6 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, garam masala, Timur, salt and 2 tbsp water. Cook 3 more minutes until the mince is well-seasoned and slightly moist. Set aside; keep warm.
Have the eggs, sliced onion, chilies, coriander and ginger julienne all set out beside the stove.
Warm a heavy 22cm non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Brush lightly with oil.
Give the batter a whisk. Pour a ladle (about 120ml) into the middle of the hot pan. Working quickly, tilt and swirl the pan so the batter spreads into a 20cm circle. Cook 60 seconds — the base sets but the top is still glossy.
Working fast: spoon 3 tbsp of the warm keema across the crepe, leaving a 1cm border. Crack an egg into the middle. Scatter onion slices, chili, ginger julienne and half the coriander over the top.
Cover the pan with a lid or a plate. Cook 90 seconds to 2 minutes over medium-low heat until the egg white is set but the yolk is still runny.
Slide the finished chatamari carefully onto a plate. Scatter with more coriander and a dust of Timur. Serve immediately with achar and lime. Diners break the egg yolk with a fork and eat with hands or utensils. Repeat with the remaining batter and topping for the other three chatamari.
Tips
- Rest the batter. Thirty minutes lets the rice flour fully hydrate and gives you a silky crepe rather than a grainy one.
- Thin batter. The batter should pour like heavy cream. If it's too thick, the crepe is stodgy. Adjust with water if needed.
- Cover to set the egg. Without a cover, the yolk hardens on top but the white stays raw underneath. Ninety seconds covered gives you set whites and runny yolks.
- Cook one at a time. Chatamari doesn't hold; it needs to go straight from pan to plate to mouth. Fry each one to order.
- Runny yolks are the point. This is the whole reason to add an egg. Overcooked, dry yolks are a mistake. Watch the pan.
More recipes
View all
Pleated dumplings filled with spiced buffalo, chicken or vegetable mince, steamed in bamboo baskets and served with a fiery sesame-tomato dipping sauce.
Nepali-style stir-fried noodles with spiced minced buff, onion, capsicum and cabbage in a soy-Timur sauce. Kathmandu's after-school street food.
Steamed momos submerged in a fiery, tangy sesame-tomato broth spiked with Timur pepper. Kathmandu's spicy-soup twist on the classic.
Cold, jelly-textured mung-starch noodles topped with soy, chili oil, cucumber, coriander and crushed peanuts. Kathmandu's Tibetan street snack.
Buffalo strips wok-fried hard with onion, capsicum and green chilies in a soy-vinegar sauce. Kathmandu's Newari-Chinese Sunday-lunch centrepiece.
Thin roti prata dough stretched paper-thin and folded around a filling of minced mutton, onion and egg, pan-fried until crackly. Little India's late-night favourite.