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KARAHAI CHICKEN

KARAHAI CHICKEN

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Serves: 4

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One day, my friend Abhishek had suddenly (a pleasant surprise though) come uo to my place and had very enthusiastically stormed up this deliciously spicy chicken curry. Abhishek's one was way too hot and spicy, so I had just 1 ingredient, the red chilli powder. From 3tsp to 1 tsp. But I had loved it just as much. And half-way through our dinner, it occured to me that it would be nice to save a picture. So, please pardon my amateur gesture.

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Ingredients

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  • 1 kilogram chicken thighs (upper thigh and drumsticks separated)
  • 3 medium onions (finely sliced)
  • 2 tablespoons garlic paste
  • 2 tablespoons ginger paste
  • 5 cloves garlic (finely diced)
  • 4 dried red chilli pepper (broken)
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 ½ tablespoons fresh coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons paprika (optional for colour)
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 250 ml Greek yoghurt
  • vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 100 ml water (or more)
  • ½ tablespoon plain flour

Method

  1. Heat oil in a wok / karhai (that’s where the name comes from). Add the cumin seeds and the dry red chillies. When the cumins splutter, add the onions, and fry till golden brown and crisp. Then add the diced garlic, fry for a minute. 
  2. Add the turmeric powder and sauté for half a min or till the turmeric loses its raw smell. 
  3. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry/sauté till well cooked and you no longer get the raw smell of ginger-garlic. 
  4. Add the red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and the garam masala powder and cook for a minute. Add salt per your taste. You may add half a teaspoon of sugar. 
  5. Now add the chicken and mix well till the chicken pieces are well coated by the cooking masala / spice mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes till the chicken is sealed and no more pink. If you find the masala going to dry or burning, you may add little water (about 50 ml). 
  6. Now add the yoghurt. Mix well and cook till the oil separates and collects on top and on sides. Now add the tomato ketchup. You may add some water now to bring the gravy upto your desired consistency. 
  7. Cook till the chicken is done. In the end. You may sprinkle little flour on top and give it a good mix, and then cook for a final minute or two. This will thicken the gravy into a nice consistency. Now turn off the heat and sprinkle ½ tsp of garam masala powder on top. And it’s done!!

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