# Pakistani Chicken Karahi

> A real karahi has **no onions and no curry powder**. The sauce comes from tomatoes collapsing over high heat, and the flavour from garlic, ginger, coarsely crushed coriander seed and black pepper. That plainness is the recipe.

**Pakistani Cuisine · 40 min · 4 servings · 420 kcal per serving**

Karahi is named after the pan it's cooked in — a deep two-handled iron wok. It's a restaurant dish in Lahore and Karachi, cooked fast over very high heat, which makes it the quickest curry you can put together.

## Ingredients


### Base
- 1 kg — chicken, cut small, on the bone
- ½ cup — oil or ghee
- 700 g — tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp — garlic and ginger paste

### Spices
- 1 tbsp — coriander seeds, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp — cumin, crushed
- 1 tsp — black pepper, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp — chilli powder
- ½ tsp — turmeric
- 1 tsp — salt

### To finish
- 1 piece — ginger, cut in fine strips
- 3 حبات — green chillies, slit
- ½ cup — fresh coriander
- 1 tbsp — lemon juice

## Method

1. **Brown the chicken** — Heat the oil over **the highest heat** in a wide pan and brown the chicken for 6 minutes until coloured on the outside.
2. **Garlic and ginger** — Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir for two minutes until the raw smell goes.
3. **The tomatoes** — Add the tomatoes and salt, cover, and cook over medium-high heat for 12 minutes. The tomatoes collapse on their own into the sauce — with no onion at all.
4. **The spices** — Uncover and add the crushed coriander, cumin, black pepper, chilli and turmeric, and stir over high heat for 6 minutes until **the oil rises to the surface**. That's the sign the karahi is ready.
5. **Finish** — Add the ginger strips and green chillies and stir for two minutes. Off the heat, add the fresh coriander and lemon.
6. **Serve** — Serve in the same pan with naan or flatbread, and an onion and lemon salad.

## Tips

- No onions — that isn't an omission. A real karahi's sauce is tomato alone; onion turns it into a different curry.
- Coriander seeds coarsely crushed, not ground — the texture and the sharper flavour are part of the dish's identity.
- Oil rising to the surface is the doneness cue. Before that the flavour hasn't come together.
- High heat throughout. Karahi is a fast dish; a low flame turns it into an ordinary curry.

## FAQ

### Why no curry powder?
Curry powder is a British invention and isn't used in Pakistani kitchens. Here the spices go in individually and at the right moment, which is what gives the clean flavour.

### Can I make it with lamb?
Yes — lamb karahi is very popular. Lamb needs longer: add a cup of water after the tomatoes and give it an hour before the spice stage.

### Do I need a karahi pan?
No — any wide, heavy pan works. What matters is that it's wide, so the liquid evaporates fast and the heat stays high.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/pakistani-cuisine/pakistani-chicken-karahi
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-09-12