Menus & occasions · 3 min read ·
Eid ul Adha: What to Cook With Qurbani Meat, Cut by Cut
What to cook with qurbani meat on Eid ul Adha: which cuts suit tawa kaleji, karahi, chops, qorma, nihari and kebabs, plus how to store and freeze the rest safely.
On Eid ul Adha, Pakistani kitchens suddenly have more meat than at any other time of year. After the qurbani, the meat is traditionally divided into three parts: one for the family, one for relatives and friends, and one for those in need. That still leaves a lot to cook and store, and different cuts suit very different dishes.
Here’s what to cook with each part, in roughly the order families usually cook them.
Day one: kaleji first
The first meal after qurbani is, in most homes, tawa kaleji: liver and sometimes kidney, cut small and cooked fast on high heat with tomato, green chilies and ginger. It’s traditionally the first thing eaten from the animal, and it’s quick, because liver needs only 8 to 10 minutes. Cook it longer and it turns rubbery.
Soak the liver in cold water for half an hour to clean it, then trim away any membrane and tubes before cooking.
Which cut for which dish
| Cut | Best for |
|---|---|
| Liver and kidneys | Tawa kaleji, cooked the same day |
| Rib chops (chanp) | Grilled mutton chops, BBQ |
| Leg (raan) | Karahi, roasts, boti on skewers |
| Shoulder (dasti) | Qorma, aloo gosht, salan |
| Shank (nalli) | Nihari, paya-style slow cooking |
| Neck and ribs | Yakhni, pulao, slow-cooked salan |
| Trotters (paye) | Paya |
| Trimmings, with some fat | Mince for shami kebab, seekh, keema |
Rest the meat before cooking
Freshly slaughtered meat goes through rigor mortis, and if you cook it within the first few hours it can be surprisingly tough. Many experienced cooks wait until the next day before cooking anything except kaleji, keeping the meat in the fridge in the meantime. A day’s rest makes karahi and chops noticeably more tender.
The second and third days
Once the meat has rested, these dishes are the Eid ul Adha classics:
- Mutton karahi, made with small pieces from the leg or shoulder.
- BBQ: chops, tikka boti and Bihari boti on the second evening, often on the roof.
- Mutton qorma or aloo gosht for family lunches.
- Nihari with the shank, cooked slowly overnight.
- Shami kebabs in bulk, from the trimmings, to freeze.
Storing and freezing safely
Meat needs to go into the fridge as soon as possible after qurbani, especially in hot weather. A few rules help:
- Cool it quickly. Divide the meat into small portions so it chills fast.
- Portion before freezing. Pack it in the quantities you’ll actually cook, in flat freezer bags with the air pressed out, labelled with the cut and the date.
- Don’t overfill the freezer at once. Too much warm meat raises the freezer’s temperature. Freeze in batches if you can.
- Use mince and offal first. They spoil faster than whole cuts.
- Thaw in the fridge, overnight, not on the counter.
Properly frozen, raw mutton and beef keep well for 3 to 4 months. Cooked shami kebabs freeze for 2 months; our guide to freezing desi food has more detail.
Sharing well
Since a third of the meat traditionally goes to people in need, think about portion size and cuts when you divide it. Mixed bone-in pieces suitable for salan, with a little mince, are the most useful for a family receiving the meat, rather than a bag of bones or fat.
