Pakistani beef curry

Nihari is a traditional Pakistani dish made from beef. A Mexican-American friend dubbed it “old clothes” curry because he says it resembles a Cuban dish where the beef falls apart just like old clothes. Making this traditional stew in a slow cooker made total sense, but no one I knew had tried making it this way. When my husband had his first bowl, his eyes grew dark and emotional. He said it reminded him of times with old, good friends, eating nihari after a late night of partying. Wow! What an endorsement!

General

Source: The Indian Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 pounds (1 kg) beef brisket, trimmed of fat
• 1 (2-inch [5 cm]) piece ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 heaping teaspoon (7 mL) ground ginger
• 4 green or white cardamom pods
• 3 fresh or dried Indian or regular bay leaves
• 1 (4-inch [10 cm]) cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) garam masala
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) ground fennel
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) red chili powder
• 2 pinches ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) white salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) black salt
• ½ cup (118 mL) vegetable or canola oil

Procedure

1. Put the onions in the slow cooker. Add the beef.
2. In a food processor, grind the ginger and garlic to a paste and add it to the slow
3. cooker.
4. Add the ground ginger, cardamom pods, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, garam masala, ground fennel seed, red chili powder, ground nutmeg, turmeric, white salt, and black salt.
5. Drizzle the oil over everything. There’s no need to mix.
6. Cook on low for 9 hours. The dish is done when the beef starts to fall apart easily, just like old clothes. Enjoy with thick naan and a side salad of onions.