Nihari / Spicy Lamb Shank / Paya
Sorry for late post of Nihari. I got lots of requests for Nihari / Spicy Lamb Shank / Paya. Requests were very unique way like “it should be golden stew” or “fell to be cooked by mum” or “need to be with easy and handy ingredients”. Nihari is a leg soup cooked with spices. I use here lamb shank but as you know that you can use cow leg or goat leg or soup bones. I keep it in Bengali style to use coconut milk but if you want onion paste or some even use flour and in restaurant they soak flat bread and add it to the gravy to make soup thicker. As you know that Nihari has time consuming cook process, to pressure cooker you can cut time or even using slow cook will make whole process easier. But you can cook traditional way in sauce pan. Hope you will try and enjoy the Flavour Bangladesh.
Ingredients:
• 1 kg legs
• 1 cup sliced onion
• 1/3 cup coconut milk or 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 and ½ tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 and ½ teaspoons chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• 6-8 pepper corns
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• 3-4 cloves
• 2” cinnamon sticks
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoon oil or more to your taste
• 2 tablespoon fried onion
How to make:
1. You can ask your butcher to cut the leg your desirable size.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom sauce pan (I prefer to use pressure cooker) and fry the leg pieces with ½ teaspoon salt for 2 minutes.
3. Remove the leg pieces and in same oil add sliced onion. Fry onion till it becomes soft and lite brown. Add all spices except cumin and cook 1 minute.
4. Add coconut milk (if you are using flour, add with 1/2 cup water and then add it to gravy) and salt; cook 3-4 minutes (stir occasionally).
5. Add leg and cook 4-5 minutes (stir occasionally).
6. Add 1 litre warm water (use more water if you are cooking in sauce pan) and cook it about 25 minutes under close the pressure cooker lid.
7. Let it sits for half hour. Then cook it on medium heat about 40-50 minutes.
8. Add cumin powder and check salt.
9. Remove Nihari from heat and serve Nihari / Spicy Lamb Shank with Naan Roti garnishing with fried onion.
Tips: If you are using saucepan use double water and be careful dont burn in bottom. So stir occasionally.
