Having heard a lot about the traditional ways of cooking meat that are still followed in some parts of Northern India, especially BIHAR. You can’t hold yourself back to taste it at least once in your lifetime. But what if I tell you that you don’t have to travel all the way to Bihar to taste the authentic Ahuna Meat cooked the Champaran way? Yes!!! “Champaran Handi House” has recently opened up in Wakad, Pune.
Champaran meat, also known as Ahuna, handi meat, is a dish with its roots set in Champaran, a district of Bihar. They use a special and traditional way of cooking the meat which gives it an aromatic and a very earthen taste which you are unlikely to get when cooked in a normal way. The meat is marinated in a mix of oil and ghee, garlic, onions, ginger and a paste of several other spices. While cooking the meat in an earthen pot or as we commonly say Handi, the lid of the handi is sealed with kneaded flour or atta. This way the meat cooks inside out and the buttery gravy gives it a rich flavour. You can eat this with chapati, bhakri or litti. It takes around 1 hour to cook the meat this way.
A full mutton handi serves upto 4 people. Their menu also includes mutton and chicken thali which has 4 pieces of meat, 2 chapati/bhakri, Boiled egg, rice and salad.
The waiting time here may go up to 20-30 minutes during peak hours but if you love dogs, you won’t mind waiting. The owner has a fluffy golden dog named Lucky who roams around in the restaurant. The old uncle who started this place, Mr R.S.Singh was kind enough to have a chat with us during the peak hours. He wants the Pune people to get a taste of Bihari Champaran meat right here in Pune. He also stated that they try to follow the original recipe as precisely as possible.
“Hamar Vishwas Kari aur jaai ihya ik baar, maze se khaa” This place won’t disappoint True lovers of meat!!
Location: Champaran The Handi House, Horizons Apartment Tower-B, Choudhary Park, Shankar Kalat Nagar, Wakad, Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Timings: Everyday 11AM-4PM and 7PM-11PM
Contact: 7498580733
