This is one of those dishes which brings really fond memories of my childhood going to these shops in Old Delhi(India) serving Nihari early in the morning. I think this is my favorite dish of all time!! This dish is usually eaten early in the morning. Read this wikipedia entry for more details on this dish.

Here is the recipe -

Ingredients for Nihari Masala

• 3 tbsp saunf/fennel
• 2-3 sticks dalchini/cinamom
• 6 choti elaichi/green cardamom
• 2 badi elaichi/black cardamom
• 12-15 kali mirch/black pepper seeds
• 1 tbsp sonth/dried ginger powder
• 6 pieces - javatiri/mace
• nutmeg 1/2 inch piece
• 1.5 tbsp spoon lal mirch/red chili powder
• 1 tbsp dhaniya/coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric

Ingredients for the recipe

• 1 KG Lamb meat cut into big chunks. You can replace this with any red meat.
• 1 onion - chopped
• 2 tbsp adrak lahsun/ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp lal mirch.red chili powder
• 4 tbsp of Nihari Masala
• 1/2 cup yogurt

Take all the ingredients for Nihari Masala and use a dry grinder or coffee grinder to make a powder.
Now take a heavy bottom vessel as you will be cooking the meat for atleast 3-4 hours. I used an enameled dutch oven to cook this.

Add 1/2 cup of ghee to your vessel and heat on a medium flame.
Add 1 chopped onion and cook till light golden
Add 2 tbsp adrak lahsun/Ginger Garlic paste and cook for a minute
Add your meat - 1 KG/2.2 Pounds and let it brown on all sides (maybe 2-3 minutes on each side)
Add 1 tbsp salt
Add 1 tbsp lal mirch/red chili powder
Add 4 tbsp nihari masala pwder from above and mix it well.
Now Add 1/2 cup dahi/yogurt and mix it well into all the meat.

At this point this is what you should be seeing -

Lower the heat and add about 10 cups of water. Cover up the vessel and forget about this dish for the next 3-4 hours. Well almost. Just check every 30 minutes to make sure the masala does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. If the liquid evaporates and your meat hasn’t become tender, just add more water.

In my case the meat got tender in about 4 hours. I had to replenish the water at about the 3 hour mark but your mileage might vary.

Once the meat is tender, make a very thin paste by mixing 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and 4 tbsp of wheat flour with water. Add this mixture to your dish. This is used as a thickening agent. Now keep a close eye on your dish and make sure the bottom is not sticking. Don’t overly mix the dish as you don’t want to break down the meat. Taste and add more salt if required. Once you see a boil after adding the thin paste the dish should be ready.

Add a garnish of julliened ginger, chopped cilantro and crispy fried onions. Serve it with Naan or chappati.