Visiting the history is equally exciting as innovation in cooking. From time to time, one should try to dig out the recipes which earned the love of people from a different era which has not weathered a bit till present. It reflects on the success stories behind these recipes. Being a fan of Mughlai Dishes, it was always thrilling to try out them in my kitchen. This time it was the famous Mutton Nihari, which rekindles the memory of Lucknow to my mind. I visited the city in 2017 and immersed myself to the beauty of Awadhi cuisine. It was in that trip, I tried along with other delicacies, Nihari and liked it instantly. The stew based dish was a silent killer indeed.

History of Nihari :

A bit of research led me to learn that it was served as a breakfast to the Nawabs in the Mughal Empire after their morning prayer. Nihari actually comes from the Urdu word ‘nihar’ which originated from the Arabic ‘nahaar’, meaning “morning”. After a hearty breakfast of Nihari, the Nawabs would take a nap till afternoon, when they would wake up for afternoon prayers.  

I also learnt that Nihari is a derivative of the Indo-Persian influence in the food that was brought in by the Mughals sometime in the 17^th century. It was the time when Delhi Cuisine really began to immerse as one of the richest culinary fares across the world. Nihari slowly made its way to Awadh and developed a unique flavour which is much lighter than the version in Delhi.

Find more about Nihari here.

Best served with Khamiri roti, this irresistible mughlai pakwan is second to none. The reddish gravy with the soft mutton pieces and bon marrows provides an arresting taste. In fact I loved to sip the gravy as a soup at one point of time. A product of a slow and tender cooking, mutton nihari can be enjoyed with rice too.

Traditionally, Nihari was prepared on a slow flame, overnight to make it ready for the breakfast. The pieces of meat should be very soft and this is the requisite for Nihari. To meet this condition I used pressure cooker instead which also sped up the process.

The best part was that I prepared the Nihari Masala at home selecting individual spice which provided an extra edge. And you don’t have to be really choosy while buying meat for Nihari and it should be a gentle combination of meat, fat and bone. It proves again that traditional dishes can go at par with the new innovative ones.

Find few more Muhglai recipes made with mutton :

• A thick yellowish gravy based dish – Mutton Chanb
• A whitish, light gravy dish – Mutton Rezala
• A dish with boneless mutton – Mutton Badam Pasanda
• A rice dish – Mutton Biryani

Ingredients to serve 2-3 :

1. Mutton – 500 gm.
2. Mustard oil – ½ cup (100 ml.)
3. Nihari masala – 2 tbspoon
4. Salt to taste
5. Wheat flour – 1 tbspoon
6. Onion – 2 (large)
7. Ginger – 1 inch piece
8. Garlic – 6-8 small cloves
9. Lemon – 1
10. Green chilli – 2-3 (for serving)
11. Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
12. Water – 700 ml. (3½ cup approx.)

Procedure :

• At first, wash the mutton twice after bringing it from the market. Drain the water well and keep aside.
• Then, cut the onions into thin slices.
• Peel off the garlic cloves and ginger. Cut half of the ginger into julienne. Then make a paste with the garlic and remaining ginger.
• Cut the lemon into halves and squeeze out the juice from one half. Reserve the remaining half for serving.
• Roughly chop few coriander leaves that will be used for garnishing.
• Now heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high flame.
• Add ginger-garlic paste to the hot oil and sauté for few seconds.
• Then add sliced onion and fry till it turns golden.
• After that add raw mutton and fry on medium–high flame till the meat changes its colour.
• Now add ‘nihari masala’ and give it a good stir to coat all the meat well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Then add 600 ml. (approx. 3 cups) water just to dip the mutton pieces. Wait till water starts boiling and then cover the pressure cooker with its lid. After getting 1^st whistle put the flame on medium and further cook for 10 minutes or 5-6 whistles.
• Now wait for few minutes until the steam of the cooker has been realised.
• Meanwhile take the wheat flour in a bowl. Add 100 ml. (approx. ½ cup) water to the flour and whisk to make a slurry. This slurry will be used to thicken the gravy.  
• After that, unlid the pressure cooker and with the help of a spoon collect some portion of oil floating on the gravy (called ‘taar’). This ‘taar’ will be used at the time of serving the Nihari.
• Now light up the gas again and heat the gravy. Then slowly add the wheat flour slurry and stir well. Also add the lemon juice to the gravy and mix well.
• Just cover the pressure cooker with lid. Don’t tighten the lid as we don’t need any whistle this time. Cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes or as the gravy thickens to your desired consistency.  
• Then switch the gas off and transfer the Nihari to a serving bowl. Spread the reserved oil or ‘taar’ over the nihari. Garnish with julienne cut ginger and coriander leaves.
• Serve with roti, sliced onlin, piece of lemon and green chilli.

Note :

If you don’t want to use pressure cooker then cook the meat in a large heavy bottom pan. After pouring 600 ml. water wait till it starts boiling. Then cover the pan with a lid and put the flame on low. Cook until mutton gets tender. Stir occasionally in between. The process might take around 1 hour – 1.5 hours.