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Meat from North Sikkim

Chiluchilu

Chilu is stored animal fat of the Sikkim and Tibetan highlands. Fat from a freshly slaughtered yak, cow or sheep is kneaded, pressed into a cleaned sheep stomach, weighted under stones and hung in the house, where it keeps for a year or more and is used instead of cooking oil. It is a ripened fat, and no study of its microbes or chemistry was found.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Chilu itself.

Short entryMeat

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
fat of freshly slaughtered yak
beef or lamb
Starterspontaneous
Start
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What changes: Kneaded fat is packed into a sheep stomach and stitched shut

Step 1 of 3
Knead fat by hand and press into a cleaned sheep stomach; stitch
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Chilu is stored animal fat of the Sikkim and Tibetan highlands. Fat from a freshly slaughtered yak, cow or sheep is kneaded, pressed into a cleaned sheep stomach, weighted under stones and hung in the house, where it keeps for a year or more and is used instead of cooking oil. It is a ripened fat, and no study of its microbes or chemistry was found.

What makes this one different

Chilu is almost pure fat ripened in a sheep stomach, used as a cooking fat, while kheuri packs meat, intestine and fat into the same kind of casing.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Rai et al. 2009: declining in North Sikkim because sheep stomachs are scarce.

  1. [rai2009] Rai A.K., Palni U., Tamang J.P. 2009, Traditional knowledge of the Himalayan people on production of indigenous meat products, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 8(1):104-109 (repository record; full text not reachable in 2026-10)paper