One of the most popular dishes that is served in roadside Dhabas ( modest food joints that serve traditional cuisine which isn’t very expensive but usually taste so good! ) across Pakistan. It’s a meat dish with tomatoes and spices. Chicken karahi is cooked on high heat in a shallow round sauté pan, called Karahi, it’s like a wok but heavier with two loop handles, the handles get extremely hot while cooking but they do come in handy when the dish is ready to be served as it’s a one-pot dish so it is served in the same karahi.
Karahi Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3lbs medium pieces chicken
- 2, 6 to 8 inches long green chilies
- 7 medium-sized tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 medium, very thinly sliced ginger
- 1 teaspoon red powdered pepper
- 1 juice of 1 freshly squeezed Lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh green coriander, chopped.
- 2 tablespoons cumin & dry coriander mixture. (recipe follows)
Directions
- Heat oil in a wok or any other sauté pan that is heavy and shallow.
- Add chicken, sprinkle salt on it and fry it on medium-high heat until the chicken turns golden.
- Cut one green chili in four pieces and fry it with chicken for 5 minutes. This would give the chicken a distinct flavor and smell while reducing the chickens’ own smell. Add lemon juice, black pepper, and red powdered pepper.
- Once the chicken is light brown add tomatoes and crushed garlic, make sure the gravy doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan by stirring every now and then. One the desired amount of moisture is left add ginger, fresh green coriander, and green chilies. And cover and cook on low heat for exactly five minutes.
- Right before serving sprinkle the cumin and coriander mixture on the top.
- Serve hot with raita and naan or pita.
Roasted coriander and cumin:
Make coriander and cumin mixture by roasting 1 tablespoon of each in a frying pan and crush it in a coffee grinder
