Restaurants
Chef Manish Mehrotra’s guide to the best nihari in Delhi
As it happens, it was nihari that was Chef Manish Mehrotra’s gateway drug into the big, bad world of non-vegetarian food. It’s a detail that feels faintly implausible when you remember that he grew up vegetarian – before spending an astonishing, career-defining two decades shaping the world-famous Indian Accent.
And yet – it’s the slow-cooked curry, not butter chicken or biryani, that makes him weak in the knees. Traditionally very spicy and made with beef or mutton shank, Manish first tasted it as a teenager in Lucknow and later rediscovered it in Delhi.
‘Funnily enough, since I grew up vegetarian in Patna, I couldn’t even tell a mutton curry from nihari at first,’ he says, amused. ‘All I wanted was to get my hands on non-vegetarian food. Nihari just happened to win the jackpot.’
This tracks with the chef’s latest opening: Nisaba at Sunder Nursery, his very first gig as a chef-owner. Manish was, admittedly, the man who introduced the world to blue cheese naans and daulat ki chaat, but tags like ‘modern Indian’ and ‘inventive’ have dogged him too long. At Nisaba, he’s ready to move on, and he’s turned his attention to what he loves best: street food and regional dishes from the country’s bylanes.
Manish – like a true connoisseur – has tracked down all the nihari joints in Delhi. Some are underrated, some perhaps overrated; some incredibly refined, and some located in neighbourhoods you may not have heard of. But the best ones all have one thing in common: the nihari is mouthwateringly good. Simmered overnight, packed with spice, melt-in-your-mouth, and best enjoyed with a khamiri roti. And as Manish says, it’s the wobbly, gelatinous texture where the magic lies.
His recommendations come with a word of caution: the hole-in-the-wall spots aren’t for the faint-hearted. ‘Don’t shovel it down like it’s a full meal,’ he warns. ‘With all that spice and oil, your stomach will protest.’
And with that, here’s Manish’s guide to where you’ll find the very best nihari in the city.