Chicken karahi
Pakistan’s beloved wok-cooked curry: chicken in a thick, glossy tomato, ginger and green chile sauce with no cream and big, bright flavor.
- 45 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.62 a serving
- 400 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, half grated, half cut into thin matchsticks
- 5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 jalapeños, slit lengthwise
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 naan, warmed (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 400 calories, 32 g protein, 8 g carbs and 26 g fat, and costs about $1.62 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large wide or wok over medium-high. Add the drumsticks and cook 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until all over.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Add the garlic and grated ginger and for 1 minute.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Add the tomatoes and salt, cover, turn the heat to medium and cook 10 minutes, until the tomatoes collapse.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Uncover, mash the tomatoes with your spoon, and in the cumin, coriander, black pepper and pepper flakes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heat
Cook uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, often, until the sauce is thick and shiny with oil at the edges and the thickest drumstick reads 165°F.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium-high heatTimer: 12 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Karahi is ready when the tomatoes have turned into a thick sauce that clings and oil pools at the edges.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
in the yogurt and cook 2 minutes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Add the jalapeños, ginger matchsticks and garam masala and cook 1 minute more.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Scatter the cilantro over and serve with warm naan.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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