Nihari kulcha
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Mutton shank stew slow-cooked overnight with spices and thickened with flour, eaten with soft kulcha at dawn.
Region: Lucknow (old city)Occasion: Early breakfast; winter; RamzanTime: 6–8 hours slow cookingServes: 6Non-vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 kg mutton shanks and bone-in pieces (with marrow bones)
- ½ cup ghee
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- Nihari masala: 1 tbsp fennel, 1 tsp dry ginger powder, 4 green cardamoms, 2 black cardamoms, 6 cloves, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 bay leaf, a pinch of mace and nutmeg, ground together
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder, salt
- 3 tbsp wheat flour mixed with ½ cup water
- To serve: ginger juliennes, green chillies, lemon, coriander; kulcha or sheermal
Method
- Heat ghee in a heavy pot, fry the onions golden and remove half for garnish.
- Add ginger-garlic and the mutton, sear well, then add chilli, half the nihari masala and salt.
- Pour in about 8 cups of water, cover tightly and simmer on the lowest heat for 6 hours or overnight, until the meat falls off the bone.
- Stir in the flour paste and remaining masala and cook 20 minutes more until the gravy is silky.
- Heat a little ghee with chilli powder and pour over as a tadka.
- Serve with fried onion, ginger, chillies, lemon and warm kulcha.
History
The name is usually traced to the Arabic word nahar (day or morning). It was cooked through the night and eaten after the dawn prayer; Lucknow's old city is famous for it.
Significance
Nihari-kulcha is a winter and Ramzan tradition in Lucknow, when people queue at old eateries in the early hours.