Nalli Nihari / Nihari

On my insistence my husband bought some bones of lamb separately last week. The store we buy meat from sells only boneless lamb but I love to eat the gooey part in between the bones. They were in the fridge when I thought of making Nihari.

Nihari is generally made from beef but I use lamb to prepare Nihari and it tastes yummy.

Dish Reminder:

• You can prepare the dish without the bones too. In that case use plain water instead of the stocks.
• Some used poppy seeds/cashew nuts paste in this dish. Its your choice. I did not use them.(update)

Nalli Nihari / Nihari
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 kg boneless lamb 
• lamb bones - the number depends on you. I used 5. The bones make a good stock for the dish
• 1 onion - thinly sliced
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 7-8 cups of water
• 3 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
• 1 tbsp unflavored oil
• 2 tsp cumins seeds
• 6-7 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 7-8 cloves
• 1 mace
• 1 tsp nutmeg powder
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 medium start anise
• 8-10 black peppercorns
• 4-5 dried red chili
• 2 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp dried ginger powder
• 1 tsp dried garlic powder
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 3 tsp red chili powder (I used the Kashmiri Red chilli powder. This gives a nice color to the dish )
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
• salt

Method:

• Prior to cooking put all the bones in a pressure cooker with salt and a little oil and cook until at least 10-12 whistles blow. After that when all the steams are out boil for at least 1 hour. Add water if it evaporates much. The more you boil the bones the richer the stock will be.
• In a pan heat oil and ghee and fry the onions.
• When they become translucent add the ginger-garlic paste. You can skip the ginger-garlic paste because you are already using ginger and garlic paste. But I like to use that a little. And since its lamb it has a very dominating flavor in itself which does not let this extra paste ruin the dish.
• When the raw flavor is gone and the onion slices have become golden-brown add the meat pieces and fry until they are brown on both sides.
• In the mean-time dry roast the whole spices and grind them to a fine powder.
• Add 3/4 tsp of the grounded powder. 
• Add the other powdered spices now.
• Mix the meat pieces evenly with the spices.
• Now add the whole meat mixture to the stock that is already being prepared.
• Cook under pressure until it blows 15-20 whistles. Some says to have 10 whistles but I feel 20 whistles guaranty a nice, soft and tender lamb pieces.
• When it is done let the steam get out of the cooker and open the cover. Put it on a medium flame without cover. You can now transfer the lamb and gravy to a larger pan. It will give you much better option of stirring.
• Take the whole wheat flour / atta and mix with water to prepare a smooth mixture. It should not be thick and not also runny.
• Add this liquid to the lambs and stir constantly to prevent creating any lumps.
• This will thicken the gravy.
• Simmer for another 5-7 minutes and put off the flame.
• Garnish with lemon wedges and chopped coriander leaves.