It was past time for me to reprint Pakistan Eats’ first boneless chicken karahi dish! Chicken karahi, I’ve always believed, is Pakistan’s national dish. You can have a blackened wok of this delectable chicken-tomato delight from any dhaba in the country. Traditional karahi is always done with bone-in chicken, but I was too timid to try it when I first started cooking. Instead, I used boneless chicken to work on my adaption. Consider this recipe a lazy diaspora interpretation of a classic dish.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoon neutral oil canola/sunflower/vegetable
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 2 bird’s eye chili roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed ginger finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 ½ lb. boneless chicken preferably chicken thighs, diced
- 1½ salt or to taste
- 6 small roma tomatoes de-seeded, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 4 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon whole-milk yogurt (optional)
- Garnish
- ½ cup cilantro finely chopped
- 1 ½ inch knob ginger finely julienned
- 1 bird’s eye chili finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oil in a large karahi or wok. After the oil begins to shimmer, lower heat and stir in garlic. Fry for a few seconds until it browns slightly, while making sure it doesn’t burn.
- Add green chilies and ginger paste. Stir for a few seconds before adding cumin seeds. Fry until fragrant, roughly 30 seconds or less.
- Turn the heat up to high, and add chicken and salt. Stir until it’s no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes, and stir continuously on high heat until jammy (about 10 minutes.)
- Add red chili flakes, black pepper and garam masala powder, and stir. Check for salt.
- Let the mixture simmer for another 5 minutes on high heat until it has reduced in volume.
- Lower heat, and add cilantro and yogurt. Stir until well-mixed.
- Remove from heat. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro, green chilies, and ginger.