Pakistani Chicken Karahi
INDIAN · INDIA

Pakistani Chicken Karahi

چکن کڑاہیMain

A wok full of chicken seared hard in oil, tomatoes cooked down until the fat splits out, and green chillies and ginger thrown in at the end. No onion, no yogurt, no cream — just chicken, tomato, ginger, chilli and a lot of heat.

Total
50 min
Heat
4/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Ginger
  • Rich
  • Sour
  • Spicy

The real deal

Region
Punjab and the North-West Frontier, cooked in a karahi — the wide, heavy iron or steel wok it is named for.
Technique
High heat and no lid: the chicken fries in oil, then tomatoes are cooked down until the oil separates and pools at the edges.
We kept
No onion, no yogurt, no cream — the Punjabi dhaba version, finished with ginger, green chilli and a squeeze of lemon.

Ingredients

4 Serves

karahi

  • 1 kg · skinless, bone-in, cut into karahi-sized pieces
  • 120 ml · mustard or sunflower oil, enough to pool
  • 600 g · ripe, roughly chopped
  • 6 · slit lengthways, left whole
  • 6 · slit lengthways, kept whole
  • 2 tsp
  • 1 tsp · coarsely crushed
  • 2 tsp · coarsely crushed
  • 1 tsp · coarsely crushed
  • 2 tsp
  • ½ tsp

Aromatics

  • 50 g · half julienned for the finish
  • 4 cloves · crushed

finish

  • 1 · cut into wedges
  • 15 g · optional · roughly chopped

Method

  1. Cut into karahi-sized pieces — on the bone, roughly 5 cm across, so the meat stays juicy and gives the oil something to cling to.

    Bone-in is not negotiable here: boneless chicken turns dry before the tomatoes break down.

  2. Crush to a paste, julienne half the for the finish and grate the rest, and slit lengthways without cutting through. Crush , and coarsely — a few turns of a pestle or the flat of a knife. You want grit, not dust.

    Keep the julienned ginger cold and dry — it goes in raw at the very end and must stay crunchy.

  3. Heat a wide, heavy pan over high heat until it is properly hot. Add 120 ml and the chicken in one layer, then fry hard for 5 min, turning, until the pieces are browned at the edges and the water they throw off has cooked away.

    If the chicken is steaming rather than frying, the pan is too crowded or not hot enough — spread it out and keep the heat up.

  4. Push the chicken to one side, drop in the and grated ginger and let it sizzle for 30 sec until the raw smell goes. Stir it into the chicken.

  5. Add 2 tsp , ½ tsp , 2 tsp and the crushed coriander, pepper and cumin. Stir hard for 30 sec so the spices coat every piece without scorching.

    Keep it moving: dry spices in a very hot pan go bitter in seconds.

  6. Add the and the slit chillies, toss to coat, then cover and cook over medium heat for 10 min, stirring now and then, until the tomatoes have collapsed into a rough sauce.

  7. Uncover, raise the heat to high heat and cook for 10 min-15 min, stirring and scraping, until the sauce is thick, glossy and dark and the oil has separated and pools at the edges of the pan. This is the moment the karahi is done.

    Do not rush this stage: if you stop before the oil splits, the dish tastes raw and watery. If it starts to stick, splash in a little hot water and keep going.

  8. Take the pan off the heat. Scatter the julienned ginger over the top, squeeze over the and scatter if using. Serve straight from the pan with hot roti.

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Make it a meal

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