Chicken Karahi Curry

Here's a fairy simple but authentic chicken curry for you all to try. I made this on Friday night having made the marinade for the chicken in the morning to let the flavours develop all day. 

Chicken karahi is also known as gosht karahi and is usually cooked with goat. But I happen to adore goats and therefore its one of the meats you won't see on the blog anywhere! It is a Pakistani and North Indian dish which takes its name from the pot it is cooked in; a karahi. This looks a bit like a wok but has steeper sides and you cook the curry in this one pot. I have a similar pan so I used mine and it was delicious!

For the chicken marinade:

3 chicken breasts, cut into large strips
1 inch piece ginger, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. chilli powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tbsp. natural yoghurt
juice of half a lemon

Put all of the above ingredients into a bowl and leave in the fridge to marinade for anything between 1-24 hours.

For the curry:

2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. cumin seeds

3 whole peppercorns

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods, seeds only

1 tsp. fenugreek

2 onions, chopped finely

inch piece ginger, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

6 medium tomatoes, chopped finely

3 green chillies, halved

1 tsp. chilli powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste

coriander leaves, chopped

 

In a pan, heat the butter and oil. Add the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Cook for a minute or two until they start to splutter and add the fenugreek and onions. Fry for 5 minutes until onions cooked and browning and then add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to thicken and the oil starts to separate. Add the chillies.

 

Now turn the heat up to high and add the chicken. The sauce will have reduced quite a bit so stir fry the chicken until it begins to colour. Add 1/2 cup water (120ml), along with the chilli powder, cumin and coriander. Cover and leave to cook on low for 20 minutes. Add the garum masala, a little salt and some fresh chopped coriander. Cook for another 5 minutes and its ready. The house will smell amazing and you will now be hungry!

 

Serve with rice and chapatis if liked. Delicious!