Meat slow cooked with spices on wood or coal, usually overnight, to make Nahari. The meat is usually beef or mutton. It is sometimes mispronounced as ‘Nihari’.
‘Nahari’ comes from the term ‘nahar’, which means the time we wake up in the morning, or literally ‘breaking of the overnight fast’. Nahari is, therefore, a breakfast dish, eaten with Khameeri (fermented) Roti or Naan. However, these days it is served throughout the day in most eateries.
Nalli Nahari is the most common Nahari. Nalli meaning shanks. There are different versions about the origins of this dish. Some say it was a royal dish while others say it was for the poor. The latter seems more plausible. The tough parts of the meat were cheaper and so more affordable by the poor. Such pieces were put in a large pot with a lot of spices and left to cook for a long time in its own fats. These tough pieces become very tender after the long cooking time. The refined version of the dish may use more tender pieces, so needing less cook-time, and also includes luxury ingredients such as ghee and chopped dry fruits.
