🍲 Nihari

Name: Nihari
Total time: 300 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: India · Old Delhi
Ingredients: 1 kg beef shank on the bone, in large pieces; 300 g beef marrow bones; 4 tbsp ghee; 2 onions, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger plus a 3 cm piece in thin strips for serving; 3 tbsp nihari spice mix; 3 tbsp wheat flour; 2 l water; Salt, green chillies, coriander and lemon wedges to serve

Origin: India · Old Delhi

612kcal

per serving · 350 g

175kcal

per 100 g

44 gProtein12.5 g / 100 g

40 gFat11.5 g / 100 g

21 gCarbs6 g / 100 g

Nihari is a rich, slow-cooked stew of beef shank and bone marrow, simmered for hours with ginger, onion and a warm spice blend, then thickened with toasted wheat flour. The meat becomes so tender it falls apart, and the gravy is thick, silky and glossy with ghee. It is served hot, garnished with fresh ginger, green chilli, coriander and lemon, and eaten with bread.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Low-carb6 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein12.5 g protein per 100 g — 29% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: beef, bone marrow

Not veganbecause of: beef, bone marrow, ghee

Contains glutenbecause of: wheat flour

Contains dairybecause of: ghee

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

beefbone marrowwheat flourgheegingernihari spice mixonion

Recipe

6 servings300 min

Ingredients

1 kg beef shank on the bone, in large pieces
300 g beef marrow bones
4 tbsp ghee
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger plus a 3 cm piece in thin strips for serving
3 tbsp nihari spice mix
3 tbsp wheat flour
2 l water
Salt, green chillies, coriander and lemon wedges to serve

Method

Heat the ghee in a heavy pot and fry the onions until golden; lift out half for garnish.
Add the beef, marrow bones, grated ginger, spice mix and salt and sear for 10 minutes.
Pour in the water, cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 4 hours, until the meat is very tender.
Toast the flour in a dry pan until light brown, whisk it with a ladle of the broth and stir it back into the pot; simmer 20 minutes more until thick.
Serve topped with the fried onions, ginger strips, chillies, coriander and a squeeze of lemon.

How to make it lighter

Skim the layer of fat off the top before serving — 1 tbsp ghee ≈ 120 kcal.
Choose a smaller bowl of meat and gravy and one bread rather than two.
Add plenty of fresh garnish — ginger, chilli, coriander and lemon add flavour with almost no calories.

History

Nihari is usually traced to the royal and noble kitchens of Old Delhi and Lucknow in the late Mughal period. Its name is generally derived from the Arabic word nahar, 'day' or 'morning', because it was slow-cooked overnight and eaten early in the morning. After 1947 it also became hugely popular in Pakistan, especially Karachi, where it is often described as a national favourite.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →