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Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Chicken karahi

Peshawar & Lahore, Pakistan

Chicken karahi (Kadai chicken)

Pakistan’s favourite restaurant curry, cooked fast over high heat in a wok-like karahi. It is built on tomatoes rather than onions, with ginger, green chillies and black pepper, and usually no water at all.

Close to the base recipe Medium

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Chicken karahi. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Chicken karahi

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 750 g Chicken on the bone, in small pieces.

From the base recipe

  • 1 Onions
  • 4 Green chillies
  • 5 tbsp Cooking oil
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • ¼ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp · not used Salt and water
  • 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon not used
  • Garam masala (optional) not used

Add for Chicken karahi

  • 500 g Tomatoes, halved or chopped (lots)
  • 3 cm Fresh ginger, in thin strips
  • 1 tsp Black pepper
  • 1 tsp · 1 tbsp Crushed cumin and coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp Chilli flakes

Leave out

  • Vegetables
  • Whole spices (most versions)
  • Water

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Base step: do not useCut onions and chillies.

    Chicken karahi: do thisUse little or no onion; cut green chillies lengthways.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Chicken karahi: do thisHeat the oil well and fry garlic and ginger paste (non-veg step A).

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Chicken karahi: do thisUse the chicken.

  4. Base step: do not useAdd them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Chicken karahi: do thisFry the chicken on high heat until it changes colour, then add the tomatoes and cook until their skins come away (pick them out if you like).

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Chicken karahi: do thisAdd chilli powder or flakes, a little turmeric, black pepper and crushed cumin and coriander. Skip the whole spices.

  6. Base step: do not useKeep frying until just before they start browning.

    Chicken karahi: do thisKeep frying on high heat until the oil separates.

  7. Base step: do not useAdd some water.

    Chicken karahi: do thisSkip the water: the tomatoes are enough.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Chicken karahi: do thisCook until the masala clings to the chicken, then finish with ginger strips, green chillies and coriander leaves.

Serve: With naan or roti.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

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