Nihari

Beef variety of Nihari in Karachi.

Nihari (Urdu: ur-Arab) is a stew from India, mostly consumed by Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and the North India region. consisting of slow-cooked meat, mainly shank meat of beef or lamb and mutton, goat meat and chicken, along with bone marrow.[1] It is flavored with long pepper (pippali), a relative of black pepper. It is considered as the "National Dish of Pakistan" respectively. Medically, Nihari is also used as a home remedy for fever, rhinorrhea and the common cold.[2]

Name origin

Nihari comes from the Arabic nahaar (نهار‎), meaning "morning". It was originally eaten by Nawabs in the Mughal Empire as a breakfast item after their Islamic morning prayer of Fajr.[3]

Popularity

Nihari is a traditional dish of Muslims of Delhi, Bhopal and Lucknow. After the Partition of British India and creation of Pakistan in 1947, many Urdu speaking Muslims from northern India migrated to Karachi and established restaurants. In Karachi, Nihari became a roaring success[4] and soon was found all over Pakistan. Now Nihari is available in Pakistani restaurants around the world. A particular favorite is nalli nihari, which is made with marrow added to nihari, and makes the stew very rich. In some restaurants, a few kilos from each day's leftover Nihari is added to the next day's pot. This re-used portion of Nihari is called taar and is believed to provide the unique flavour. Some Nihari outlets in old Delhi boast of an unbroken taar going back more than a century.[5]

Nihari Media

References

  1. Cuisine, Samara's (2021-04-02). "Pakistani Nihari Recipe | Beef Stew Recipe". Easy Pakistani Recipes. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  2. "What is Nihari?". Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  3. Sengupta, Sushmita (3 January 2018). "Nihari: History Of The Meaty and Buttery Breakfast Staple of The Mughals". NDTV Food. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  4. "Nihari a la Mexican style". The Hindu Business Line. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  5. "Dilli Ka Dastarkhwan". Retrieved 28 November 2014.