Karahi chicken curry done restaurant style. All the great tastes of classic karahi chicken with that thick, rich gravy you only get in restaurants.

This is a Northern Indian street food classic adapted to restaurant style cooking. Like you would get in a restaurant. Not like you usually make at home.

I like chicken karahi done homestyle. It’s a relatively simple curry but it has great balance. And it’s a bit different. But when I make it restaurant style I like it better.

Restaurant karahi chicken on a plate with rice. - 1 Restaurant karahi chicken on a plate with rice. - 2 Restaurant karahi chicken in an Indian styles serving dish. - 3

karahi chicken curry

Ingredients

The spice mix

  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp kasoor methi - dried fenugreek leaves
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper - coarsely ground
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

The chicken

  • 12 oz boneless skinless chicken - 3 thighs or 1 large breast
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • chicken stock to cover

Karahi chicken

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp onion - finely diced
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste - plus enough water to get to the consistency of passata
  • 4 tbsp fresh tomato diced
  • 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste - recipe link below
  • 1-2 green chili sliced
  • 15 oz curry base - recipe link below
  • 1/6 lemon - juiced
  • all of the spice mix
  • the pre-cooked chicken
  • 1 tbsp cilantro leaves - finely diced
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

The spice mix

  • Combine all the spice mix ingredients. Set aside.

Pre-cook the chicken

  • Add the chicken, curry powder and salt to a small pot. Cover with chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
  • Cook until the chicken is just done. This takes about 10-12 minutes.
  • Drain the chicken and set aside.

Chicken Karahi

  • Be ready. Have your curry base simmering on the stove. Make your spice mix. Chop all the ingredients and have them at the ready. This is going to go very fast. You don’t have time to mess around.
  • Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil.
  • When the oil starts to shimmer add the onion and green chilies. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onions just start to brown on the edges. This takes 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the garlic ginger paste and cook until it stops sputtering, about 1 minute.
  • Lower the heat to medium low. Add the spice mix. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 30-45 seconds. You want to bloom the spices in the oil. You don’t want to burn it. If you burn the spices, start again. There’s no fixing it.
  • Add the diluted tomato paste. Stir to combine and cook for about a minute.
  • Turn the heat up to medium high. Add 3 oz of the curry base. Stir to combine and cook until it it starts to crater. Little holes will appear. See the guide to Indian curries to understand what this means if you aren’t sure.
  • Add another 6 oz of curry base. Stir to combine and cook until it craters.
  • Now add the remaining curry base. Cook until it craters and reduce the heat to low. Add the chicken stir to mix. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
  • Add the fresh chopped tomatoes, cilantro and lemon juice and cook for another 2 minutes or so. If the curry gets too dry add a bit more curry base.
  • Add the cream. Stir to combine. Serve. Enjoy!

Notes

Nutrition

Potato leek soup. So good. So easy. Something wonderful from the simplest of ingredients.

Potato leek soup is one of my favourite soups of all time. There is something magic about taking such basic ingredients and creating a dinner party worthy dish.

Potatoes. Leeks. Onions. Stock. Cream. Butter. Salt and white pepper. Nothing to it. But put them together. Wow. That’s the magic of cooking. It’s why I do it. No flour. No cornstarch. And no thickeners other than the potato. The real deal.

I know. Seems a bit poetic for a basic potato leek soup. But it’s satisfying. Everybody loves it. Really, really good.

Ladling potato leek soup into a white bowl. - 4 Ladling potato leek soup into a white bowl. - 5