Chicken Karahi

There are no onions in it at all, which its article says is what distinguishes it.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken, jointed small
• 700 g tomatoes, chopped
• a 6 cm piece of ginger, half crushed, half in julienne
• 10 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 green chillies, slit
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, crushed
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 5 tablespoons ghee
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 30 g coriander leaves

Method

1. THERE ARE NO ONIONS IN IT AT ALL, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS IS WHAT DISTINGUISHES IT. The sentence is worth quoting whole: "What distinguishes chicken karahi from other curries from the region is that it is cooked WITHOUT ONIONS IN THE BASE, and instead uses just TOMATOES, GINGER AND GARLIC." Every other curry on these pages starts with onions browned in fat. This one has nothing to build sweetness or body with except seven hundred grams of tomato, which is why there is so much of it and why it has to be cooked hard.
2. IT IS COOKED IN A KARAHI, AND ITS ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHAT THAT IS. A type of wok from the subcontinent. Wide, round-bottomed, thin enough to react fast -- which is the point, because this is a fast dish.
3. THIRTY TO FIFTY MINUTES ALL IN, WHICH IT ALSO GIVES. Not a slow braise. The chicken is jointed small so it cooks in that time.
4. THE TOMATOES GO IN WITHOUT WATER AND ARE REDUCED HARD. They give up a great deal of liquid and all of it has to go. Twenty minutes over a brisk heat, until the ghee separates and pools.
5. NO WATER IS ADDED AT ANY POINT. The chicken and the tomatoes between them are the sauce.
6. THE GINGER GOES IN TWICE. Crushed into the base, and cut in fine julienne over the top at the end. Its article names ginger among the four things the flavour depends on, and raw julienne tastes nothing like the cooked.
7. THE CHILLIES ARE SLIT AND LEFT WHOLE. Six of them. Meant to be found.
8. IT IS STIRRED AND TOSSED, NOT LEFT. A karahi over a fierce flame catches in seconds.
9. ITS ARTICLE GIVES THE MEAT VERSION ITS OWN NAME. Gosht karahi, with goat or lamb instead, which wants longer and more liquid. Served with Naan, as on its own page, or rice.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes