Winter Special: Nihari @ Islamiya

There aren’t many dishes that you have to get up at 4am to have, and even less that justify such torture in winter. Nihari would satisfy both those conditions.

For those not in the know, Nihari is made mostly with beef, but sometimes with mutton. It is meat, cooked all night with special spices, on a slow flame, and served at the crack of dawn, as a heavy spicy, soup. This is a dish available almost exclusively in winter. The best Nihari in Calcutta is served in the Chitpur area, in the neighbourhood of the Nakhoda Mosque. The trick is to get there before the very limited stocks finish. What this means is that you have to get there around 5:30 am, because proceedings start drawing to a close around 6 am.

The most famous Nihari serving shop is of course Sufia, which is right opposite the Nakhoda Mosque. But the problem there is that people line up their cans outside the shop from the previous night, and you may, like I did, be greeted by the waiter’s cheeky grin and “Nihari khatam hai”. The only way to guarantee that you get Sufia’s Nihari in the morning, is to add your can to the queue at night.

Unbelievable as it may sound, even before sunrise on a winter morning, Sufia was packed with some fifty people, all slurping away at their Niharis, with rotis or daal-puris on the side. I walked out, and asked the shopkeeper across the street if there was any other place serving Nihari, and the name I got was Islamiya. The man assured me that their stocks of Nihari last quite a while. It was simple enough to find, just walk in from Nakhoda, along Zakaria Street, and take the right turn from the 2^nd big crossing and walk right till the end of the lane.

Islamiya is not exactly what one would call fine dining, but has the very typical atmosphere of a traditional Muslim eatery. But even though the surroundings may be humble, the food served is a class apart. There is no concept of a private table in places like this. Your waiter simply seats you at any table that happens to have an empty chair.

I ordered half a plate of Nihari, which I was told would have two pieces of beef. The full plate would have four. With it I asked for tandoori rotis. Served with chopped coriander leaves and lemons on the sides, the Nihari was thick, beautifully spiced and the meat was literally melt-in-your-mouth. The fresh coriander and lemon juice cuts through just right. It has a sinful looking layer of oil on top, but I learned from the other folks at my table, that it was possible to request the waiter to serve the Nihari without that layer on top. But somehow, I don’t really think about calories when having such delicious beef. The tandoori rotis were soft, fresh, and warm and I sat there tearing off pieces of roti, dipping it into the Nihari and chomping away, feeling completely blissful.

The best part about eating at a place like this of course, is the bill. Half a plate of Nihari, two tandoori rotis and a cup of hot tea and I paid the princely sum of Rs. 65/-.

Later in the day, on a walk through the Maidan, I had the good fortune of meeting the owner and he recommended the malai kofta at Islamiya. I think I’ll try it next.

Until then, keep munching.

DIRECTIONS:

You can find Nakhoda Masjid here and here is Islamiya's address...

Islamiya Hotel,
73, Maulana Saukat Ali Street,
Kol - 73