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Beef Nihari

Beef shank slow-cooked in a spiced gravy thickened with toasted flour. A weekend project that mostly cooks itself.

Prep 20 minCook 4 h 10 minTotal 4 h 30 minServes 6

Ingredients

  • 1.2 kg beef shank (nalli) or shin, in large pieces
  • ½ cup ghee or oil
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 3 tbsp nihari masala
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 8 cups water
  • ⅓ cup whole-wheat flour (atta)
  • 1 cup water, for the flour slurry
  • 2 tbsp ginger, julienned
  • 3 green chilies, sliced
  • 2 lemons, in wedges

Instructions

  1. Fry the onion in ghee until golden, then lift out and keep for garnish.
  2. Add beef and ginger-garlic paste; sear on high.
  3. Add nihari masala, salt and 8 cups water. Cover and simmer on the lowest heat until the meat is fork-tender.
  4. Dry-toast the flour in a pan until light brown, cool, then whisk with 1 cup water until smooth.
  5. Stir the slurry into the pot and simmer, stirring, until the gravy thickens and turns glossy.
  6. Serve with ginger, chilies, fried onion and lemon.

Tips

  • Skim the fat that rises during step 3 and spoon it back over each bowl as tari.
  • A pressure cooker cuts step 3 to about 60 minutes.
recipenkitchen.com/recipes/beef-nihari · RecipenKitchen