Nihari
Photo: Miansari66 · Public domain

History

Nihari takes its name from the Arabic word for morning, and it was eaten by the Mughal nobility as a breakfast after the dawn prayer. Food historians place its origin in Delhi or Lucknow in the late Mughal era. Some nihari cooks in Old Delhi keep an unbroken cycle of taar, a portion of each day's stew added to the next, and claim it has run for more than a century.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 6 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1kg mutton shank or bone-in shoulder, cut into large pieces
  • 4 tablespoons ghee
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • 2 tablespoons nihari masala (or 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon fennel powder, 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger powder)
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour (atta) mixed with 100ml water
  • To serve: julienned ginger, green chillies, coriander and lemon wedges

Method

  1. Heat the ghee in a heavy pot and fry half the onions until deep brown; lift them out and keep for garnish.
  2. Fry the remaining onion until golden, add the ginger garlic paste, then the meat, and sear on high heat for 10 minutes.
  3. Add the nihari masala, chilli and salt, stir for 2 minutes, then pour in the water.
  4. Cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 5 hours, or 1 hour in a pressure cooker, until the meat falls from the bone.
  5. Stir in the flour paste and simmer 15 minutes, stirring, until the gravy is thick and glossy.
  6. Serve topped with the fried onions, ginger, green chillies, coriander and lemon.

Tip from the editors. Skim the red fat from the top and spoon it back over each bowl, the way Old Delhi shops serve it.

Where to eat nihari

Nihari in Delhi

Haji Shabrati Nihari Wale ★ 4.1

$ MughlaiOld Delhi

Haji Shabrati Nihari Wale has cooked only nihari since 1957 in a lane behind Chitli Qabar in Old Delhi, open for two short windows in the morning and evening.

OrderA plate of nihari with khameeri roti, as early as you can.

Why locals goIt has cooked nihari since 1957 down a gali behind Chitli Qabar, with a hand-ground twelve-spice masala, and opens only in two short windows a day.

TipExpect a queue outside at both sittings: it serves from 06:00 to 10:00 and again from 18:00, with khamiri roti on the side.

Directions

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