A one pot authentic Nihari recipe that simplifies cooking Nihari! Keep reading for everything you need to do about making your masala, buying your meat, and cooking it stove top or in the Instant Pot!
There are a few Pakistani recipes that can stand on their own. That don't need a second fiddle, a side, anything else really except the garnishes that accompany it. Biryani is one such dish, Raan is another, but if I am to be honest than my favourite one dish meal is Nihari.
It comes to us as a 'workers' dish, the idea being that it cooked overnight to create something hearty that could be had for breakfast and fuel them for a day of labor. It has since then become an iconic part of Pakistani cuisine.
With it's strong spices, beautifully tender meat, the sourness of the lemon, that bright leafy cilantro. If I had a last meal request it would be Nihari.
I shared my recipe for Dum ka Qeema here recently and said that it was one of my bucket list foods, one of the dishes that I wanted to be able to make well from scratch. Nihari is another such dish.
A case for making your own masala (but you don't have to)
Nihari Masala sounds intimidating, but it's truly not. Combine, roast, and grind. Well worth the effort.
There are several masala brands that sell a Nihari spice mix, but there is something eminently satisfying about homemade. The flavour is decidedly different, earthier, more robust.
Homemade masalas also don't have any artificial ingredients or preservatives, just saying.
However if you like that particularly flavour but want a homemade base then feel free to add a tablespoon or so of it into your "tari" oil at the end.
Nihari Meat: A Quick Primer
Traditional Nihari meat is a bone in shank, that tells you everything you need to know about what meat to buy and what bones to acquire.
It was traditionally made with the whole shank piece, but in modern times we cut the meat and bones into chunks. The meat is there for the eating and the bones are there to give richness, depth, and another layer of flavour. If you can't get shank bones than anything rich in collagen like the joints works too.
In Pakistan the meat is typically beef, but you can always use mutton. In North America veal is often the meat of choice given that it's more tender with softer fibres.
To Instant Pot or not to Instant Pot
Okay before anyone comes at me let me say that your Instant Pot IS NOT JUST A PRESSURE COOKER. Did I just blow your mind? Just go see - there's a slow cook button. See it? Great. Let's talk now
Using the Slow Cooker Function: my favorite thing about this is that I can put my Nihari to cook here for 5 hours and while it's cooking I can't smell a thing. I also sometimes use it to make just a bone broth just fyi.
Pressure Cooking Nihari: 45-50 minutes is all you need for beautifully tender nihari. However, when a nihari slow cooks the spices develop their flavour and the bones release a depth that doesn't come with pressure cooking. If time isn't on your side though and the cravings are real then absolutely go for it.
Made the Nihari? Rate it below! Would love to hear from you!
Nihari
Ingredients
- 2 lb Large chunks of beef/veal - 3 inch pieces
- 1-2 lb bones
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp ginger paste
- 1 ½ tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- Ghee/Oil for cooking
- 1 large onion
Nihari Masala
- 1.5 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1.5 tbsp saunf
- 1.5 tsp whole black pepper
- 1.5 tsp whole cloves
- ½ tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- 2 1-inch cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 piece mace
- 3 black cardamoms
- 4-6 green cardamoms
- 1 piece dried ginger (small, can sub with ½ tbsp of gingepowder)
- 6 whole red chillies (round)
- 1 tsp kalonji
- 2 pieces of peepli or 3-4 kabab chini (optional)
Garnishes
- lemon wedges
- sliced green chillies
- julienned ginger
Instructions
Nihari Masala
- Dry roast all the ingredients in a frying pan (no oil), grind to a powder. Set aside
Cooking the Nihari
- Heat oil in a large pot
- Thinly slice your onion, fry till golden brown then spread on paper towels to dry. (we will use these at the end)
- Add all the remaining ingredients in the first list and stir fry the meat until its browned and the masala is cooked - about 4-5 minutes
- Then add your Nihari Masala Mix and 7 cups of water and stir well.
- Pressure cook for 45-50 minutes or slow cook for 4-5 hours undisturbed to get beautifully tender meat. For slow cooking stove top, bring the mixture to a boil then let it simmer covered.
- Once the time is up skim any greyish scum that may rise to the top and discard.
- Crush the onions and mix in, bring the nihari to a boil
- If you are serving this another time then set it aside for the nihari to cool.
- When ready to eat then dissolve ⅓ cup atta in 1 cup water and whisk briskly as you add it to the nihari
- The nihari will thicken as it cooks - 10 to 15 minutes
- Adjust consistency per liking (more water or atta+water), just remember you need to simmer after adding it to lose the raw taste.
- Heat a few tbsp of oil in a small saucepan and add 1.5 tbsp of kashmiri laal mirch (for colour) and add it on top of the nihari like a tadka/baghaar.
Notes
farah awan says
Defrosted meat, but I didn't have a mix packet. Briefly panicked. Went to Google for a recipe. Saw yours. The rest was history! Sarah you always deliver the best! Thank you!
Sarah Mir says
YAY! Glad I was able to help!
Hira Javaid says
Sarah! You are absolutely brilliant! MashaAllah tabarakAllah!! Each one of your recipes that I have tried has been so on point, Alhumdulillah! I made this Nihari yesterday for a dawat and you won’t believe how much EVERYONE LOVED it!! Jazakillah and please keep doing the great work. Your recipes are so well written and really love the stories behind them. Allah bless you ❤️
Sarah Mir says
Hira!!! YAY!!!! It made me so happy to hear this and thank you so much for trusting my recipes!
Beatrix says
Made Nihari for the first time yesterday and was so happy with the result! I had everything except the nigella seeds but will be sure to get that first before I make it again, also only had ground mace, not sure if I used the correct amount but regardless, it came out fantastic! I did learn a cool trick though, before you start cooking, you boil the meat in water for 2 minutes and that removes all the impurities! You boil and it, drain it and rinse it. That way you don't have that scum rising to the top while cooking, so I did that first as well.
Sarah Mir says
Thank you so so much for the review and for sharing that trick! That's new to me!!!
Farooq says
Sara,
I wanted to clarify – were you referring to beef marrow bones or veal marrow bones? Also, is it recommended to cook the beef shank and marrow bones together in the Instant Pot? At the end of cooking, should these bones be removed? Lastly, is this the same recipe as Nalli Nihari?
Sarah Mir says
Hello Farooq - so which bones you are using often depends on the meat. In theory it's the bone in the centre of the meat so you get the cubes and then the bone with it so if you buy veal it's veal and if you buy beef it's beef. I do put everything in together and then take the bones out. re: Nalli Nihari, that depends on whether you choose to scrape out the marrow and put it back in. Hope this helps!
Arshi says
Hi
Could Nihari be prepped a few weeks before? Ramadan is around the corner and so I wanted to know what I could do before Ramadan starts so I could enjoy the Nihari on one of the days I’m fasting without spending too much time in the kitchen. Thank you!
Sarah Mir says
Hi Arshi! Nihari gets even better somehow when you freeze it and defrost! It’s the kind of sorcery i don’t understand but wholly appreciate! I’m also now tempted to follow suit!
Sidra says
It was delicious but how do you make Tari? How much Oil and how much nihari masala?
Sarah Mir says
Hi Sidra! I usually do what's in the instructions ( a few tbsp of oil plus kashmiri mirch) but you can also always switch the oil for ghee!
Amish Naiyer says
First of all nihari is an Indian dish from Lucknow, India so the info was wrong and yeah tomatoes aren't the part of orginal recipe, slight correction needs to be done about the dish's origin, it's not Pakistan
Sarah Mir says
Hey Amish! Yes absolutely the history of Nihari traces back to Lucknow but I haven't actually talked about it's history in my blog post (an omission on my part and soemthing I need to fix!). However, given the history there are many dishes that may have originated on one side of the border or the other, but have become a huge part of the modern nations cuisine. When I say it is a Classic Pakistani dish I am not referring to origin, but to it's role in Pakistani cuisine. Totally get how the title can be misleading, will have a think on rephrasing!
Tania Longi says
I had never made nihari at home before and this recipie is actually amazing. Followed it to the tee and it was awesome.
Sarah Mir says
Thank you SO much Tania!!! That is absolutely amazing to hear!!!
Maheen Vayani says
Ok this nihari masala is an absolute game changer. Thank you sharing - epic recipe as always!
Sana says
Is this recipe spicy? If so, what can I adjust to reduce the spiciness? My family and I don't eat spicy food.
Sarah Mir says
Hmm Sana that's a tough question, because I don't know what level of spice is spicy for each person. It does have 1 tbsp each of kashmiri and chili powder. You can halve those, or drop them to whatever feels right for your family. I would recommend making the nihari masala itself as is. Hope this helps!
Sidra says
Delicious
Sarah Mir says
thank you Sidra!
Shumaila says
If I double the recipe using 4 pounds of beef, should I use 14 cups of water in the InstantPot? Should everything be doubled?
Sarah Mir says
Hi Shumaila! At 14 cups or 3.5 quarts of liquid plus meat you may be hitting dangerously close to your IP fill line, the other thing that will happen is that with that amount of liquid you will take a LONG time to come up to pressure and release it. If you have a large pot you can transfer to for finishing then I'd cook everything in the 7 cups of water (so double everything but the water) and then transfer it to a larger pot, add the water and do the whisking with the atta and tari there. Hope that makes sense!
Saba says
Omg this was so good and so easy and so on point with the measurements! Thanks so much for another great recipe!
Sarah Mir says
Thank you Saba! Happy you enjoyed it! It's such a classic so I get extra happy when people make it!