Nihari

Ingredients

Meat and pot

• 1.5 kgbeef shank (nalli), cut in thick rounds on the bone
• 500 gmarrow bones
• 200 mlghee
• 2onions, sliced and fried deep brown, half reserved
• 2 tbspginger-garlic paste
• 2.5 litreswater
• 2 tbspsalt

Nihari masala (tied in muslin)

• 2 tbspfennel seed
• 1 tbspcoriander seed
• 1 tspcumin seed
• 6green cardamom pods
• 2black cardamom pods
• 1 tspcloves
• 2cinnamon sticks
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 1blade mace
• ¼nutmeg, crushed
• 2bay leaves
• 1star anise
• 1 tspcaraway

Ground spice

• 2 tbspKashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1 tspground ginger

Thickening and finish

• 100 gwholemeal flour (atta), slaked in 300 ml cold water
• ½ tspsaffron or 1 tsp kewra water (optional)

Garnish

• 40 gfresh ginger, julienned
• 4green chillies, sliced
• 1 bunchcoriander leaf, chopped
• 2lemons, in wedges
• reserved fried onion
• hot naan or khameeri roti

Directions

1. Heat the ghee in a very heavy pot, add the ginger-garlic paste and fry 1 minute, then add the shank and marrow bones and sear over high heat 10 minutes until browned on all sides.
2. Add the chilli powder, turmeric and ground ginger and fry 2 minutes, stirring, so the spices bloom in the fat without burning.
3. Pour in the water, add the salt, half the fried onion and the muslin spice bag, and bring to the boil.
4. Drop the heat to the barest possible simmer – the surface should barely tremble – cover, and cook for 6–8 hours, or overnight. This is where the name comes from: nihar means dawn, and it was cooked through the night and eaten at first light.
5. Check occasionally that the meat is submerged. It is ready when the shank slides off the bone at a touch and the broth has turned deep mahogany with a thick layer of red fat on top.
6. Lift out the meat and bones and set aside. Remove the spice bag and squeeze it into the pot.
7. Whisk the atta slurry until absolutely smooth, then pour it into the simmering broth in a thin stream while stirring hard. Cook 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until the gravy is glossy and coats a spoon – it should be thick but still pourable, never gluey.
8. Return the meat, scrape the marrow out of the bones into the pot, add the saffron or kewra and simmer 15 minutes more, then let the fat rise to the surface undisturbed for 10 minutes.
9. Ladle into bowls, making sure each gets a spoonful of the red fat from the top, and serve with ginger julienne, green chilli, coriander, fried onion and lemon on a separate plate, and hot naan.

Technique

• The layer of separated fat on top is not a fault – in Pakistan a nihari served without it is considered incomplete. Do not skim it.
• The atta slurry must go in smooth and be stirred continuously, or it forms lumps that cannot be whisked out afterwards.
• Old Delhi and Lahori shops keep a taar: a portion of yesterday’s nihari is added to today’s pot, and some shops claim an unbroken chain of decades. It builds enormous depth and is worth imitating with leftovers.

Substitutions

• Beef shank can be replaced with mutton shank for mutton nihari, which needs about half the cooking time.
• No time for an overnight simmer? A pressure cooker at high pressure for 90 minutes gets the meat tender, but the broth will lack the deep, gelatinous body.

Variations

• Maghaz nihari, served with cooked brain stirred in at the table.
• Nalli nihari, made almost entirely of marrow bones so each bowl carries a bone to suck.
• Chicken nihari, a much quicker modern version popular for weeknight cooking.

History

Overnight-simmered beef shank stew, traced to late-Mughal Delhi as a post-dawn meal; migrants carried it to Karachi and Lahore after Partition.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nihari?

Nihari is a main from Pakistan: overnight-simmered beef shank stew with bone marrow, eaten with naan. Overnight-simmered beef shank stew, traced to late-Mughal Delhi as a post-dawn meal; migrants carried it to Karachi and Lahore after Partition.

How long does Nihari take to make?

Nihari takes 30 min of preparation and 7 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Nihari?

Yes, within limits. Beef shank can be replaced with mutton shank for mutton nihari, which needs about half the cooking time. No time for an overnight simmer? A pressure cooker at high pressure for 90 minutes gets the meat tender, but the broth will lack the deep, gelatinous body.

What is the most important thing to get right in Nihari?

Whisk the atta slurry until absolutely smooth, then pour it into the simmering broth in a thin stream while stirring hard. Cook 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until the gravy is glossy and coats a spoon – it should be thick but still pourable, never gluey.