# Pakistani Nihari: Slow-Cooked Beef in a Thick Spiced Sauce

> Nihari is beef cooked over the lowest possible heat for four to six hours until it falls apart, with the sauce thickened by flour slaked in water. Its spice profile is distinctive — fennel, star anise, nutmeg and black pepper — and it's served with sliced ginger, lemon and coriander.

**Pakistani Cuisine · 290 min · 6 servings · 520 kcal per serving**

Nihari began as a breakfast dish in old Delhi, cooked overnight. The slow cooking isn't a step in the recipe — it is the recipe, and it's what gives the meat that falls-apart texture.

## Ingredients

- 1.5 kg — beef on the bone (shin or neck)
- 2 medium — onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp — ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp — nihari spice (fennel + star anise + nutmeg + black pepper + cinnamon)
- 1 tsp — turmeric + chilli powder
- 4 tbsp — flour, slaked in a cup of water
- ½ cup — ghee or oil
- 1 piece — ginger, julienned, to serve
- 1 حبة — lemon + coriander, to serve

## Method

1. **Brown the onions** — Fry the onions in the ghee until deep golden, and lift half out for the garnish.
2. **Brown the meat** — Add the ginger-garlic paste, then the beef, and turn it until coloured on all sides. Add the spices, turmeric, chilli and salt.
3. **The slow cook** — Pour in water to cover the meat by three fingers, cover, and hold it at the lowest possible heat for four to five hours, until the meat pulls away from the bone with a spoon.
4. **Thickening** — Mix the flour into the water thoroughly with no lumps, pour it in gradually while stirring constantly, and let the sauce simmer for fifteen minutes until it thickens and turns glossy.
5. **Serving** — Serve in deep bowls with the julienned ginger, coriander, fried onions and a squeeze of lemon, with naan alongside.

## Tips

- The flour must be slaked in cold water and added gradually, or it will go lumpy.
- A pressure cooker turns four hours into ninety minutes, though the flavour is less deep.
- The raw ginger on top isn't a garnish — it's what cuts through the richness.

## FAQ

### Can I make it with chicken?
You can, and it takes about an hour, but the original uses beef on the bone because the marrow gives the sauce its body.

### My sauce won't thicken.
Add two more tablespoons of slaked flour and simmer for another ten minutes, stirring.

### How is it different from curry?
Nihari has a much thicker sauce, warmer spicing and hours of cooking; curry is lighter and faster and usually built on tomato and yoghurt.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/pakistani-cuisine/pakistani-nihari-slow-cooked-beef-recipe
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-09-12