Chatamari is a rice crepe topped with savoury ingredients mainly mince meat (buffalo) and egg. It’s a very popular newari dish. It can be found in many local newari eateries. It’s very delicious and easy.
Chatamari are traditionally made for a puja. When you make it for puja (performing rituals by worshipping and praying to hindu god), it is just plain rice crepe with no toppings.
There are few different ways to make rice flour batter. Some use plain rice flour and water, others use black lentil paste or eggs to make pliable and smooth.
This is very easy to make and so very tasty.
Here’s my version of Chatamari
500 grams Lamb mince
1 small onion finely chopped
2 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
4 cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger crushed into a paste
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup of chopped coriander
In a bowl, put mince meat and add all the listed ingredients and mix well. Set aside
For Batter
2 cups of rice flour
Pinch of Salt
Dash of cumin powder
1 egg
2 cups of water or enough to make a batter that is not too runny or too thick and pasty. To make the right consistency check if batter coats the back of the spoon.
Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add water and whisk it. Add egg and whisk it through the mix.
Heat non stick pan on a low heat. When pan is hot, grease it with some oil. Pour a ladle of batter and swirl around to make a round crepe. Cook the crepe for 1-2 minutes until the looks set.
Top it off with mince meat covering the crepe. Crack egg on top and season with salt. Cover it with heavy lid (traditionally we use lid made of clay which looks like cover of tagine) and let it cook for on a gentle heat for 6-8 minutes until the egg and meat is cooked.
Serve hot and enjoy this delicious dish.
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