Karahi Chicken
A lovely simple spicy chicken dish, that is mainly flavoured by fresh chopped tomatoes and ginger. I love adding capsicum/pepper in this dish too, it adds to the wonderful aroma and gives a fantastic yummy finish.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Chicken Marinade
- 1 chicken cut into small pieces (12 or more) - marinate chicken for at least an hour, up to overnight in the ingredients below
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1 tsp. garlic
- 2 tsp. red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp. plain yoghurt
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
Additional Ingredients
- 1 tsp. coriander seeds roasted then grinded into a powder
- 1 tsp. cumin seeds
- 3 whole pepper
- 2 cloves
- 2 pieces cinnamon sticks
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1/4 cup oil + 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 onions chopped finely
- 6-8 medium tomatoes chopped finely
- 1 chopped capsicum/pepper optional
- 1 tsp. fenugreek/methi leaves
- 2-3 green chillies slit
- 1 tsp. red chilli powder
- 1 tsp. ginger paste
- 1/2 tsp. garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp. garam masala
- salt to taste
- julienned ginger for garnishing
- coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil n butter, add the whole spices (cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, cloves). Once they start to sputter, add the fenugreek/methi leaves, followed by the chopped onions. Fry the onions on medium heat until golden, then add the ginger and garlic, followed by the chopped tomatoes and 1 green chilli. Cook until the tomatoes reduce in amount and thicken up, releasing the oil.Turn up the heat to high, now add the marinated chicken pieces. Stir fry them in this mixture on high heat for 5 minutes until the chicken turns color, then reduce the heat to low, add the cumin powder, chili powder and coriander powder plus half a cup of warm water. Cover the pot and let the chicken simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.Check on it, stir and add some salt, then cover again and let it cook for another 8-10 minutes. Now check on the chicken, add the chopped capsicum/pepper, adjust salt and add the second green chilli plus a bit of the coriander leaves (if you’re not using capsicum, just add the salt and green chilli n coriander leaves at this point).Cover and simmer again for another 5-8 minutes or until the capsicum has started to soften. Check if the chicken is done, squeeze the juice of half a lemon, sprinkle the garam masala and some chopped coriander. Turn off the heat once the chicken is done.Leave it to rest for about 20 minutes covered before serving so that the flavours get properly infused into the chicken. Garnish with ginger and more coriander, and serve with either rice or naan…or whatever else you prefer.Enjoy!
i wish you were selling a book published by you
THANKS ALOT FOR THIS ONE
dear fauzia,
salam,realy i love you n liked yr recipies,,,the recipies i tried till now all went sooo yummy n tasty,my husband doesnt like chicken cause i didny use to make it yummybut i started making from yr recipie ,,it goes so delicious that he started eating chicken dishes,,yester day i made chicken jelfraizy,,guess what my husband says”main chicken khata nahee,laikin yea itny tasty bany hay k main khata hee gaya”i realy luv u n duaas for u comes from the bottom of my heart”
awesome yarr aapka jawab nahi
Jazakallah khair for such nice recipies ur giving us thax a million
hi Fauzia sis,
what can i use as a substitute of methi leaves?is it ok to use the fenugreek powder insted? thanx
shimu
Hi, don’t use the powder, you can leave it out if you don’t have the leaves.
can we use dry methi
Yes you can.
thanks for the recipe.it was so delicious!
Do you have a recipee for chicken jelfraizy? =) Im trying this karahi recipee right now! first one im trying off your site 🙂 really excited!
Salams made the same thing but with meat a it smells lovely
Assalamoalikum Fauzia, i just want to ask you that if we don’t use capsicum int it so will it result in good taste or it will differ? coz i like capsicum but not my in laws…
W/Salaam, it will be fine even without the capsicum.
I followed this recipe,and have just finished. cant wait to taste it!!! I only used 1 pepper instead of 3 and didn’t put butter in.
Salaam,
If i use a pound of boneless chicken how many tomatoes would i use? Also would the amount for the rest of the ingredients remain the same?
W/Salaam, half of all the ingredients will be enough.
JazakAllah 🙂
Hi Fauzia,
Can a Tin of tomatoe be used instead of fresh tomatoe?
Thanks
Hi, yes that is ok.
Hi fauzia can you tell me how much grams of chicken did you use?
About 1 to 1 and a quarter kg.
slaam fauzia.
im trying bthis today but im using chicken breast pieces.
i think i have about 2kg, so should i double up on all the ingrediants?
W/Salaam, yes double the ingredients. 🙂
Hello . Ur this recipe is really yummy . I tried with chicken . Want to try with mutton , should i use samequantity of masalas or should i increase it .pl. specify how much for 1kg mutton.thanks
Hi, thank you! Yes you can make this with mutton, use the exact recipe but since mutton will take longer to cook than chicken, adjust the water accordingly until your meat is cooked.
Salams Fauzia, this was the yummiest Karahi Chicken xxx Jazak Allah for sharing your lovely recipes.
It turend out excellent!
thanks.
The recipes that i have tried from this site are simply awesome. Can i plz get a recipe for chicken jalfrezi?
Thanks! Will post jalfrezi soon. 🙂
Aslm,aleykum sis fauzia, just found your website. I learned alot n I love it. Keep up tha good work. Jaazakalah kheir ukhty
Asalam,
thanks a lot for your wonderful recipes.
I was wondering if this recipe can be done with beef as well?
thanks
W/Salaam, yes it can.
assalam alaikum…i tried this recipe today it was really yummy…just like the karahis i ate at restaurants…ur recipe rocks…cant wait to try ur other recipes inshaAllah…jazakIllah khair for ur wonderful recipe.
Fauziaa plz post recipe of WHITE KARAHI
Will do inshaAllah. I do have white qorma if you are interested in that. 🙂
Assalam o Alaikum Fauzia dear, thanx for the ymmy rcips 🙂
today i am going to try this recipe n i hope this will also be as tasty as the other ones that i have already tried:)Duas and Salam
Salaams,how much tomato do we need to use?
W/Salaam, as mentioned in the recipe 6-8 tomatoes.
Nice recipe.i shall try soon
Nice recipe.i shall try soon with ur naan recipe.Insha ALLAH.
Hi what do you mean by 2
Hi what do you mean by 2 whole peppers? What kind
Black peppercorns.
Black peppercorns.
Salam Fauzia
Salam Fauzia
If i use boneless chicken, do i change the quantity of ingredients?
Thanks
W/Salaam, use 1kg boneless
W/Salaam, use 1kg boneless chicken for the same amount of ingredients.
The above receipe will make
The above receipe will make how many servings? I have 1kg of chicken drumsticks(with bone). Should i keep the ingredients same?
1kg chicken would serve
1kg chicken would serve around 4-5 people. Yes, same amounts for the 1kg drumsticks. 🙂
with skin or without for this
with skin or without for this recipie?
Without.
Without.
Salam Fauzia,
Salam Fauzia,
Thank you for sharing such a great recipe :)! Just a few doubts I had. For the ingredients, it says ginger and garlic paste. Since I don’t have paste available right now, can I substitute the pastes with minced ginger and garlic instead? If yes, then should I be using the same quantity? Also I have fried onions made already so how much should I use to substitute with the two onions ?
Thank you in advance 🙂
W/Salaam, you can grate the
W/Salaam, you can grate the ginger and garlic to form a paste. And yes same amount. Hmm about the fried onion, hard to say what is the equivalent of 2 onions, I would use about 4-5 tbsp.
Thank you for the reply :)! I
Thank you for the reply :)! I tried it yesterday and was delicious mashallah. Wonderful recipe! First time my karahi chicken came out so well. Jazakallah
Hey Fauzia … i am trying
Hey Fauzia … i am trying your recipe for the very first time ..i wana ask you that i dont ve fresh leaves of fenugreek with me right now .. can i use sun dried leaves as same as directed in recipe or not ?
You can leave it out
You can leave it out completely or use a very small pinch as the dried ones are stronger in flavour.
Salaam, I am inshaa’Allah
Salaam, I am inshaa’Allah going to try out this recipe. I just wanted to ask about the chilli powder. 2tsp for the marinate and one in the masala. Is this a very spicy dish. I tend to use the extra hot chill powder and was wondering if I shud reduce the amount? Am worried it will turn out too spicy.
W/Salaam, yes absolutely by
W/Salaam, yes absolutely by all means you can reduce the spice in any recipe to suit your tastes. You can always sprinkle more later if you find it needs it. 🙂
Assalam. Dear Fauzia. may i
Assalam. Dear Fauzia. may i blend the tomatoes instead of chopping it?
W/Salaam, yes you can.
W/Salaam, yes you can.
Thanks Fauzia for such a
Thanks Fauzia for such a lovely recipe 🙂
I tried today and it turned out great.
I tried this recipe out today
I tried this recipe out today and the family loved it. Thank you!
I have a question if you dont
I have a question if you dont mind, if I wanted to modify this and other chicken recipes of yours to make it with mutton instead (husband doesn’t eat chicken), then what would be the difference in the cooking process? Since mutton usually takes longer to cook, would you suggest pre-cooking it and then using it in the recipe, if so how? Thank you!
Yes you can use mutton, and
Yes you can use mutton, and yes pre-boil it at least three-quarters done before using in the recipe. 🙂
My husband is a huge chicken
My husband is a huge chicken fan and lets just say I only know the basics of cooking chicken. I tried this recepie and he loved it, according to him this is the best ‘handi’ I’ve ever made for him. Although, I found adding capsicum gave it the taste of chicken jalfrezi, but all in all it was great. JazakAllah for such a great recepie!
tried this today for an
tried this today for an iftaar party and it was delicious! Everyone loved it! Jazakallah sister!
Salam Fauzia
Salam Fauzia
A general question for all of your lovely recipes, what is the approximate weight of each tomato which you use in your cooking?
Thanks
W/Salaam, around 50g more or
W/Salaam, around 50g more or less. 🙂
Awesome recipe. Simple and
Awesome recipe. Simple and very tasty. Thanks fr your website.
Salaam! Quick q-every time I
Salaam! Quick q-every time I cook chicken, I never have enough of the oily sauce like in the pictures-my chicken comes out dry. Am I not cooking he tomatoes long enough? Thanks!
W/Salaam, yes by cooking the
W/Salaam, yes by cooking the tomatoes on very low heat the oil will seep out of them. But you also need to use enough oil to begin with, if it is very very little then it will not remove any oil on cooking.
Hi fauzia maam, this is more
Hi fauzia maam, this is more of a fun thank you comment.. So i tried this karahi chicken recipe and like others it turned out soooo amazing that even my MIL ( expert cook) praised it and thats a really big thing for me as im in a “learn by mistakes “stage so thanx so much for dat
Today i decided to make pasta n suddnly i thought of using this recipe gravy and ull b surprised that i again got complimented for it
So i am writing this to thank you.. Really thanx a lot for ur amazing amazing recipes
Hi, thank you so much for
Hi, thank you so much for such a generous loving message! Very happy to know the dish turned out well and love the idea of using the leftover in pasta!
Salam, can i ise tomato sauce
Salam, can i ise tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes and how much? Thank you in advance
By tomato sauce do you mean
By tomato sauce do you mean ketchup or blended tomatoes? Do not use ketchup for this one (ketchup is known as tomato sauce in some places). If it is blended tomatoes or passata then that is fine.
Do you think it would be OK
Do you think it would be OK to use kala jeera (the little black cumin seeds), or would you recommend against it? (I’m all out of the other kind and trying to avoid a trip to the store;) Thanks!
Kala jeera have a very
Kala jeera have a very different taste and aroma, you can use it if you like otherwise if you have cumin powder you can just omit the regular cumin seeds.
Bless you for your prompt
Bless you for your prompt reply! I suspected as much and would much rather make the dish properly. Thanks for the confirmation:)
AOA. I need some help plz. If
AOA. I need some help plz. If i use boneless chicken will the recipe and method remain the same? also how much boneless chk shud i use for 8-10 ppl? waiting for ur reply 🙂
W/Salaam, for boneless
W/Salaam, for boneless chicken, the same method and recipe will apply and 1 kg would serve around 8 people.
Thank you. Much appreciated :
Thank you. Much appreciated 🙂