A fragrant curry of Pakistani origin, Chicken Karahi is fresh with garlic and ginger, and plenty of tomatoes. Crucially though, there are no onions in the curry base. There’s plenty of liquid in all the ingredients, particularly in the tomatoes and ginger, so it’s just a case of sautéing down the ingredients carefully and managing the spice. The dish is named after the large wok-like pan that it’s cooked in. There are loads of different variations on this: I’ve tried it with garlic and ginger, just garlic, and even without garlic in the curry base. I’ve settled on something simple that you can vary the spice level of nicely.
Set aside 45 minutes to an hour to cook this, but realistically, you should be eating by the hour mark. This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
- 500g Chicken (Honestly, if you prefer bone-in, use that; if not, use breast.)
- 100ml Neutral Oil (or 100g Ghee)
- 2 tbsp Minced Ginger and Garlic (If you can quickly knock this together yourself, you should. Pastes and “lazy” versions of these are brined or filled with additives that mess with the flavour and remove the liquid.)
- 6 good-sized fresh tomatoes, halved (It’s worth taking the extra time to remove the core that connects to the plant.)
- 2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder (If you don’t have any, you can buy it here. Alternatively, paprika will suffice.)
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Crushed Coriander Seeds
- 1 pinch Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves; you can buy these here. This is optional.)
- 1–1.5 inch piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
- Handful of Fresh Coriander
- 4 or 5 Fresh Green Chillies
Method
- Add your oil or ghee to the pan and heat it to medium.
- Cook the chicken until slightly coloured.
- Take the chicken out of the oil and set it aside.
- Into the oil, add the crushed coriander seeds and minced garlic and ginger, and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Place the tomato halves face-down and arrange them neatly around the pan.
- Put the lid on and allow them to stew for 10 minutes or so.
- After 10 minutes, you should be able to remove the skins of the tomatoes using a good pair of tongs. If the skin doesn’t come straight off, put the lid back on and give them another couple of minutes.
- Stew the tomatoes for another couple of minutes without the skins, then mash them into the sauce base.
- Add the Kashmiri Chilli Powder, Garam Masala, Ground Coriander, and Ground Cumin, and stir through the sauce.
- Throw the green chillies in whole and stir through.
- Add the chicken back into the pan, cover, and cook until the oil starts to separate, indicating the spices are blooming.
- Stir the sauce and chicken, then remove the lid. Reduce the sauce to your desired level of thickness.
- At the last moment, add the fresh coriander to the pan along with two-thirds of the ginger matchsticks.
- Serve and garnish with the remaining matchsticks and some more fresh coriander.
- Serve on a bed of rice or with Naan or Some Roti
