An Invitation to a Breakfast

Back in those days if we made Nihari (a delicious, buttery, spicy stew of beef shank or lamb) it would require several hours of slow cooking and preparation. The result was of course a delicious dish of nihari.

Nihari is a stew-based dish traditionally made with meat, mainly beef shank or lamb along with bone marrow. When paya (beef or goat trotters) are added to the meat it is called Paya Nihari. It is slow-cooked overnight till the meat is tender enough to come off the bone. Extras like ginger juliennes, fried onions, chopped cilantro, chopped green chilies complement the dish. Nihari is best eaten with naan or “khamiri roti” which is leavened baked flatbread.

When my parents bought a pressure cooker there was excitement in the house. It didn’t look like the shiny and sleek pressure cookers of today. Ours was a heavy, tall cylindrical shaped device. We were told the steam release valve could malfunction and result in the lid blowing up. The day we used the pressure cooker for the first time the children were told to watch from a distance. Thankfully we never had any accidents.

Always ready to make any activity fun for the family my parents decided it was time to make paya nihari in our new pressure cooker. It would not only reduce the cooking time but the sealed pressure cooker would retain all the flavors of the spices. And what could be better than sharing the experience with family and friends?

An invitation went out for breakfast at the Sailing Club overlooking Hussain Sagar Lake. I remember how excited I was as we drove on the Tank Bund road towards the club. It was a pleasant morning. I waited for my cousins and friends to arrive ready to play and walk around the lakeshore. My parents, aunts, and uncles sat in the picnic area of the club enjoying the beautiful view of Hussain Sagar Lake.

Then it was time for breakfast. Everyone complimented my mother on the taste of the paya nihari and how well preserved the flavors were in the pressure cooker. There were other breakfast items too but it was the paya nihari that got the most praise.