Beef Nihari
Nihari is a rich, slow-cooked meat stew flavored with spices and thickened with whole-wheat flour slurry. It is mainly cooked with beef shank but can be made with mutton or chicken.
The word “nihari” comes from the root Arabic word “nahar”, meaning “day” or “morning”. This dish was originally eaten by Mughal nawabs and workmen to fuel them throughout the day. But now, this dish is typically served as a main lunch, dinner course or brunch.
Nihari Ingredients
- Oil/Ghee- Typically this dish is prepared using ghee and lots of it! The fat (from the meat) and ghee naturally surfaces to the top. But I prefer to use oil and minimal amount of it, so if you follow my recipe, it won’t appear too oil.
2. Meat- The preferred cut is beef shank along with large bones with bone marrow which gives the signature stickiness to the stew. If you cannot get bone marrow, just simple bones can be used. You can remove them once the beef is completely cooked.
3. Nihari masala- buying a boxed nihari masala is convenient, but once you prepare it at home you will never go back to the boxed version. There is a lot of whole and powdered spices but that is what makes this dish so amazing and comforting.
4. Flour- flour is added towards the end of cooking to slightly thicken the stew. Generally whole wheat flour is used but all-purpose flour can also be used. The most important tip is not to add the flour directly to the stew. It will immediately form clumps. So, flour is always mixed in water and then added gradually to the stew while stirring continously.
Nihari is served with several sides– Lemon wedges, julienned ginger, chopped cilantro and chopped green chili peppers. It can be enjoyed with naans, garlic naan or even rice.
Nihari is best served the following day as the meat tastes better after it has had time to absorb all the flavors.
Any leftovers can be refrigerated for 4-5 days. It can be reheated on the stovetop when needed.
Beef Nihari
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef shank cut in large chunks
- 1/2 kg bones
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 cup oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
- 1.5 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon red chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Kasmiri powder
- 2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour dissolved in 1 cup water (or all purpose flour)
- 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 2 inch cinnamon sticks
- 1 star anise
- 2 black cardamoms
- 4-5 green cardamoms
- water
Optional
- Julienne ginger
- Lemon wedges
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a spice grinder (or with a mortar and pestle) grind the following into powder – coriander seeds (2 tablespoons), fennel seeds (1 tablespoon), ginger powder (1/2 tablespoon) and cumin seeds (1 tablespoon).
- Place a large pot or wok on medium-high heat and add oil, bay leaves and finely chopped onions and saute until the onions have turned into a deep brown color.
- Immediately add 1/2 cup water (to stop the onions from browning more).
- Now add the beef shank pieces and bones.
- Then add the following- ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chili powder, Kashmiri powder, turmeric and the spice powder we ground earlier in step 1.
- Saute for around 5 minutes stirring well to coat the meat with the spices.
- Then add 2 liters of water.
- Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat slightly and let the meat cook for 1 ½- 2 hours or until the meat is 90% cooked.
- Give the flour/water mixture a quick mix because the flour can settle down. Now add it slowly to the nihari while stirring the nihari constantly. This will prevent the flour from clumping.
- Cover and let the nihari cook for 20 minutes more.
- In the meantime, grind the following into powder – black peppercorn (1/2 tablespoon), cinnamon stick (2 inch), star anise (1), black cardamoms (2) and green cardamoms (4-5).
- Mix this ground spice in 1/2 cup water very well until it is dissolved and then add it to the nihari (mixing in water prevents formation of spice clumps).
- Cover and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for further 1 ½ hour. By this time the meat should be completely cooked.
- Switch off the heat and leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes (this allows the flavors to deepen).
- Garnish with julienned ginger and add lemon wedges when serving.
- Serve hot with naan or even rice (before serving you can remove the bay leaves and the bones from the nihari).
