Anyone knows? Thinking about making some Nepal style pakku this Dashain. Any direction would be appreciated.

 What's "Khasi ko Pakku"? 

Don't kmow riddle bhai...just a name i remembered from. The meat is kind of dry without bones. I have heard few call it kabab too but its not the Kabab Indians and Pakis make.

खोइ कोहि छैनन् कि के हो पक्कु बनाउन जान्ने साझा मा?

this is i know it is made.
1. fry onion on oil (be generous on oil) on pressure cooker
2. once oil is golden brown, add meat.
3. fry meat for sometime and add giger garlic ( be generous here)
4. fry more until meat become brown.
5. add meat masala, coriander, cumin
5. fry some more.
6. now, close the lid and let it cook. this is the part that make pakku. slow cook over time without water in it until meat becomes soft.
7. this can also be done by marinating meat first with all the ingredients above and slow cook on a pot.

i have seen my mom cook in both ways.

good luck.

forgot to mention, slow cook means cook on a low heat.

 
Guys

In western Nepal they call it Pakku, In valley and easter nepal they call it Kabab. Yes it is different than Indian and Pakistani/Afghani kaboab 

The concept:
In olden days ppl dont used to eat meat everyday. Work was more physical. No transportation so you go everywhere by foot. Lots of calori used.
During Dashain they have lots of meat. And we know it i not good to eat lots of meat in short period of time.

Technology:
There were no refrigerators  to store meat for longer period of time. Fat get rancid if stored for longer period of time without preservative and coloin. There were no preservatives.

Fungus/Bacteria
They grow when there is a suitable media (food ) and when temperature is right. So when meat is kept at room temperature for long time it get destroyed (attacked by fungus/baceria). Our ancestors needed to preserve meat for longer period of time so that tey will be able to consume in controlled way

Technology used by Ancestors:

Making Pakku or Kabob so that they can store meat for longer period of time. 

How making of pakku /Kabab help preserves meat.?

We all know life needs water to survive. So if you take water out of meat fungus bacetrai cant grow on it ( remember sukuti? However sukuty is hard and difficult for kids and old people ).

While cooking all water will be driven out of the meat slowly, There will be lots of fat ( so no dissolved oxygen, like in case of water, even if fungus/bacteria come in contact with pakku they will die because of salt content in pakku as well as because of the fat. They will die because of lack of oxygen to breath and Osmosis (which will brust their cell wall)

Why pakku /kabab is tasty:
It is tasty because the way of cooking and all added spices. While cooking all the aroma from the spices will be extracted into fat and they will remain their. So while eating you will taste all the speices.But becarefull while cooking if you cook pakku in strong heat all aroma from different spices will be evaporated or will decomposed.

How to prepare Pakku

1. Lambs meat: Up to you how much. Remove most of the visible fat. (remember we dont need that much fat these days like our ancestors used to because a) lack of physical work b)  we do have refrigerators for preservation once cooked so take out all visible fat. 

2.Cut meat into pieces (size of your liking). Mix different spices like turmeric ( excess of turmeric may make food bitter)/coriender powder/ginger/cumin/garlic and garam masala spices Do not use readymade spices from Indian stores they are not good. Buy individual spices and grind/crush them yourself.
Pakku is not hot (piro) so do not use pepper. But you can use black pepper

3. Use olive oil, not those on bargain price and make sure that it is not a mixture of different oils.In olden days our ancestors used to use mustard oil. We have better option these days that is olive oil. Mix properly.
Leave for marination for one hr or so inside the freez or even at room tempe ( does not matter that much regarding the taste but refrigerator is betetr for safty purpose)

4. Cook in stainless steel utensils ( not coated with non stick coat, these are bad for health, once those non stick thing goes inside you it remains in your blood for ever, creating a lots of problem for you.)

5. In olden days they use to cook in a pot with thick base ( slow heating) but these days those pots are not available so heat control is very much iportant)

6.Heat the stainless steel pot (very hot) put marinated meat in the pot.cover. let it cook for five minutes then slow down the heat to almost half (almost 50% less heat than regular cooking) and cook for long time. check from time to time so that it is not over cooked. 

Usually you do not need to add water. do not use pressure cooker. It will destrpy all aroma from species.You can use pressure cooker without applying the pressure though.

When pakku is considered cooked?

Usually it is cooked more than rodinary cooking time to drive out all water.

What happens if you over cooked:

Meat will develop elastic character because of Gelatin. It helps to preserve meat longer but also destorys the "feel". (remember gummy candies) Overcooking also destroys the essential ingridents from the species. Therefore a little less cooking is betetr than the over cooking. Although main aim is to drive water out of the meat but it not good if all water is removed about 10-20% water must be there inorder to preserve water soluble vitamins and aromatic compounds.

I think Newars cook ta:khala almost similar way.Here they also put lots of skin,to extract as much gelatin as possible so meat is preserved  not mainly by removing water but by extraction of gelatin from skin during cooking.

 This is how I make pakku/ kabab

1. cut meat in realtively big pieces
2. marinate the meat with oil(any oil but mustard oil has more flavor), turmeric(besar), red chili powder(khursani ko dhulo) and light garam masala.
3. Mix it very well and cover it with another container and leave it for at least 2-4 hrs at max half a day.
4. now heat the pan up , put in oil (a little more oil kina ki masu needs it)
5. Put in some curry leaves, cinamon, cloves, cardamom for more flavors.
6. Then fry some red onions(it has more flavor than yellow or white onions), fry till its light brown
7. aba add that marinated meat, fry it till it is light brownish too.
8. then add ginger-garlic paste while frying the meat.
9. after frying till the meat for a while, add meat masala, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder.
10. Stir it well and cover with lid.
11. leave it on light fire(heat) for a while. keep checking in between.

After its ready , sprinkle in some fresh dhaniya and green lasun. 

Voila !! Your Pakku is ready. Thats how I make it.... 

From what i know Pakku is not supposed to have lots of spices and also not supposed to be 100% cooked. May be 80% cooked not sure there.

Someone please explain the difference between cooking Pakku/kawab vs just plaing khasi ko masu. The receipies seem to be  for generic khasi ko masu.

 @Sap mitra : in generic khasi ko masu we usually donot marinate and sidhai pyaj fry ... masu hala nai masala hala ani pressure cooker ma sui sui sithi lagaincha ... jaba ki pakku ma ekdam sano aago ma dherai ber pakaincha .... ra tapaile bhanya jasto 80% matra pakauney ta suneko thiyina... kina ki kaba purai pakeko huncha ra raato raato huncha tesaile dashain bhari tikcha... I mean dherai din samma khana sakincha feri feri tataayera... Jun ajhai meetho huncha.....  Mero mujhai ra chakhaayi  matra bhaneko la...

Thanks Thahachaena...yespali 5lb khasi ko pakku experiment garincha usobhaye !!

 Y'all are crazy then! Khasi ko masu is too precious! There's no way I'd gamble and experiment when it comes Khasi ko masu. I love me some authentic Khasi ko Masu - traditional Nepali style! 

Dont know a abt pakku, i like em' either traditional nepali style with spicy soup ( bit oily, hot spicy & floating cilantro's) or i just marinate for couple of hours & barbeque in slow - medium cooked- prolly about 80% without letting it get dry...you cant beat that juicy barbequed khasi ko masu... Btw i prefer propane instead of classy coal barbeques when it comes to khasi !!

Enjoy fellas, happy dashain !!!

ब्रो: नारायणी पूर्वको पर्नु भएको हो ? गाउले हरुले पाक्कु अनि शहरियाले कबाफ भन्ने रहेछन ?
किनकी पुर्बेलिले पक्कु भन्छन र धक्कु लगाउने गर्छन कसको घरको मिठो भयो भनि  | खसीको मासु त पाइदैन तर अस्ट्रेलियन बोको भने पाइन्छ होला, अलिक चाम्रो र रेसा बढी हुन्छ जस्तो लाग्यो |
तरिका :
टुक्रा एक नासको बानाउनु पर्छ नत्र स्वादमा फरक हुन्छ | पक्कु वा कबाफ बनाउदा मेरा माताहारिले मरमसला मात्रै राखेको देखेको थिए  ( ( do not suggest ONION, it sweetens the meet, not much garlic ) |
तेल , मसला regular , नुन र बेसार हालेर मल्ने बेलुकी अनि अर्को बिहान पकाउने'
अलिक मोटो भाडोमा पकाउने ( if you use pressure cooker, taste will be different, it may be soft but not the original one)
५-७ मिनेट मासु फ्राई गर्ने ( तुरुन्तै बिर्को नलगाउने ) अनि सानो आच्मा छोपेर पकाउने | अलिक पानि आऊछ, बेला बेलामा चलाउने , if it is dry too early you can add little bit water. | तेलमा पुरिएको पक्कु खाने गरेको भए तेल अलिक धेरै हाल्ने |
पाके पछी मासुको बासना आउन थाल्छ , चाखेर हेर्ने कति धेरै पकाउन मन लाग्छ ( सारै नरम वा चबाउनु पर्ने गरि , आफ्नो इच्छा अनुसार) ,
मासु तेलीय भएर पाक्छ , तेल सुद्द आर्को भाडोमा खन्याउने , तुरुन्त नाछोपने ( बाफ मिसिन्छ ) , सेलाए पछी रेफ्रिजेरेटर मा राखे पनि भयो बाहिर राखे पनि भयो |
यसरी राखेको कवाफ / पक्कु चलाउन ( start eating )  थाले पछि भने रेफ्रिजेरेतारमा राख्दा बेस होला |

यदि पहिलो पल्ट कोसिस गर्दै हुनु हुन्छ भने - एक पल्ट पुर्ब तयारि अगी पकाएर हेर्नुस १-२ पाऊन्ड पकाएर हेर्नुस कस्तो बनाउनु भयो अनि के गर्दा बेस होला आफैले बिचार गर्नुस |
यो पनि पहिलो पल्ट Programming गर्न बसे जस्तो हो |   

 Magorkhe is right here....what I recall from my mom's recipe of pakku is she did not use water and onion or any orther ingredients that have water. She used to use red chilly powder and cumin+coriander powder and salt only. Yes, little excess of oil. The main purpose of pakku is preservation. In past when nepalese homes did not have fridge thye cooked meat this way to last longer without being fouled. So my mom's recipe
Heat excess of oil in a bhaddu (traditional nepalese bronze round pot)[you can use pressure cooker also but do not pressurize]
When hot, add meat and fry for 3-5 min
add turmeric and salt
Let stand in low heat for about 10-15 min
add red chilli powder, masala powder (roast cumin+coriander before grinding )
cook 10-20 minutes more

You have options of cooking it fully or partially. But normally, my mom used to cook it partially so she could cook afterward adding all the ingredients whenever she wanted. 

Pakku ko swad nai beglai...la SIDSTER bro moj garau....I nearly salivated while writing this recipe...bachcha bela dekhi baseko taste bhulna kahan sakincha ra. 

I agree with Gorkhey and Nalapani.....i had heard mothers brag about not using Onion and Lasun to preserve it longer for some reason. The pakku only has dry masala..as far as i knew. Could be wrong there too.

Thank you all for the suggestions. One of my guest knew how to make pakku and it was great. Basically he marinated the well and evenly cut meat with tumeric, salt, Oil, and dry ground cumin seed ( masala) and slow cooked it in a thinck bottom dish until it was ready.

काम भन्दा कुरा गर्न सजिलो भन्थे - रेसिपी त दिईयो तर आफु  भने अझै सिकारुनै रहेछु |

 गोर्खे-ब्रो मैले चै तपाइको प्रोसेस फलो गरेको घच्ची को बनेको छ पक्कु (हाम्रो मा कबाब भन्छन) . चाख्ने भए आवुनुस 

DC मा हो भने त आईन बेर लगाइदैन् है ?