Nihari

Nihari is a stew made from beef or lamb and curry. Originated in Delhi, it is now most popular in Hyderabad, India and also Pakistan. The Muslims of Delhi are the ones who actually brought it to Pakistan and popularized it there. Nihari is known for its spiciness and taste. Nihari is also known in India as the breakfast curry, as it is traditionally eaten before a day of manual labor. It is originally more of a delicacy with myriad variations on spiciness and texture.

However Nihari originated as a dish of the Muslim upper class society in Delhi. It passed to other classes as Muslim ascendency and power declined. This was after the waning of Mughal power in the mid to late 18th century when many muslim families from the Mughal nobility became impoverished.

Preparation

Originally prepared from the upper thigh/hip meat of cows, Nihari was cooked overnight in various vessels, sometimes even buried under soil for the duration like Shab Deg is, to yield extremely tender morsels of meat, including the flavourful bone marrow found in the preferred joint. In addition to the main stew, it is served with a number of side dishes. The Bhaghaar is lightly fried ghee to lessen the chilli; the Tarka is an additional oily chilli to spice up the flavour. In addition cooked brain and the bone marrow are served alongside with the stew. The Nihari is garnished according to individual taste with coriander leaves, fried onions, green chillies, ginger strips, lemons and sliced white radish. In addition garam masala, a blend of five powdered spices is sprinkled over the stew. Salt is added to taste. In restaurants many of the garnishings are already added so as to increase customer turnover.

Traditional Nihari recipes call for 6-8 hours of cooking time, in addition to the preparation of the ingredients. This is much less common today with the use of more tender cuts of meat (i.e. sirloin) instead of the tougher thigh/hip meat. Traditionally the dish is eaten in the early hours of the morning as a brunch. Because the stew is so rich, one is supposed to have an extended nap till the afternoon zohar prayers which occur after midday.

I would like to correct the Hyderabadi linkage to Nihari. What is referred to as Nihari (Pronounced as Nahari in Hyderabad Deccan, India) is Paya or Siri-Paya ie Trotter soup with Hyderabadi spices. Siri refers to the Head/tongue and Paya refers to trotters. Pakistani Nihari(and may be Delhi) is a totally different dish. It does not contain any bones and is much thicker and stronger in flavor. Nahari In Bangalore and many parts of Karnataka is also similar to Hyderabadi Nahari Pervez87 09:05, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Nihari Shops

Famous Nihari shops in Pakistan are located in Karachi and Lahore; some examples are Waris Nihari Shop, Baoo Nihari House, Muhammadi Nihari House, Zahid nihari, Javed nihari and Sabri Nihari. In Delhi, most nihari shops (with the exception of Karim's) are modest affairs which largely serve the poor. That however doesn't make the taste of their nihari any worse than their Pakistani counterparts. Some of the best Nihari shops in Delhi include Kallu ki Nihari in Chatta Lal Mian (close to Daryaganj), Haji Noora in Bara Hindu Rao, and for mutton Nihari, Karim's near Jama Masjid. That said, almost every locale within old Delhi has its own favourite nihari shop, which it invariably considers far superior to the others.

Arguably, however, the best Nihari in both India and Pakistan is made privately by families originally from Muslim Delhi.

Other kinds of the dish

The Hyderabadi version of the Nihari contains bones and tongue of the lamb as well. Another version of Nihari, popularized by the spread of quick-cooking spice recipes from Shan and National Foods, uses chicken meat to make a sort of heavy chicken broth.

See also

• Siri paya
• Shab Deg

Related Links

Nihari Recipe

Haji Noora ki Nihari