North Indian
Mutton Nihari (Slow-Cooked Mutton Stew)
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Mutton Nihari (Slow-Cooked Mutton Stew) is North Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Dry roast the whole wheat flour in a small pan over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns a shade darker and smells nutty. Set aside; this is what gives nihari its body without a single vegetable in the pot.
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Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, star anise and peppercorns in a dry pan for 2 minutes until fragrant, then grind to a fine powder. This is the nihari masala.
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Heat the ghee and oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and fry the sliced onion until deep brown, about 15 minutes.
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Add the ginger garlic paste and the mutton, bone in, and sear 10 minutes over high heat until well browned on all sides.
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Stir in the ground nihari masala, red chili powder, turmeric and salt, and bhunno 8 minutes until the spices coat the meat and smell toasted rather than raw.
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Add the water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 3 hours, checking occasionally, until the mutton is so tender it separates from the bone on its own.
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Whisk the roasted flour with a little water to a smooth, lump-free paste, stir it into the pot, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the gravy thickens to a rich, clinging consistency.
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Serve hot, topped with julienned ginger, slit green chilies, coriander leaves and a squeeze of lemon.
Serve it with
A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Mutton Nihari (Slow-Cooked Mutton Stew), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Mutton Nihari (Slow-Cooked Mutton Stew) carries dairy and gluten. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | Yes | Lauki Chana Dal (Bottle Gourd and Lentils) |
| Gluten | Yes | Lauki Chana Dal (Bottle Gourd and Lentils) |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 480 mg
- Saturated fat
- 12 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
When to cook it
Mutton Nihari (Slow-Cooked Mutton Stew) takes about 210 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a proper project. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
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Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.