Boneless chicken karahi is an authentic and easy chicken curry from the Indian subcontinent that you will love. Made with a few readily available ingredients like chicken breast, tomatoes, ginger, and green chillies, it is simple enough to make on a weeknight. Serve with thick bread like naan or white rice and a raita for an easy and delicious meal!
What is Karahi Chicken?
Karahi chicken or kadai chicken is a spicy, slightly tangy, and very popular chicken curry made with ripe tomatoes. The name comes from the iron pot it is cooked in, a karahi. Similar to a wok, it is round and deep with handles. Food cooked in a karahi is extra-tasty due to the bhunai (a combination of sautéing and stir-frying) on high heat.
Another recipe for boneless chicken is this chicken handi. It has a thick and very smooth sauce that you can mop up with some bread. And if you are obsessed with the idea of chicken cooked in a karahi, here's a white chicken karahi recipe. It's made with bone-in chicken and has a slightly spicy, creamy sauce.
More chicken curries: chicken dopiaza, chicken korma, chicken madras and spinach chicken.
Ingredients
I can bet that you already have the ingredients you'll need to make this moist and flavour-packed chicken dish.
1. Boneless chicken: I used chicken breast, but bite-sized pieces of chicken thighs can also be used easily.
2. Tomatoes: Red, ripe ones are essential in this recipe, and make a lot of difference. Don't go for the pale ones. A yellow, sickly looking curry is no fun, and if the tomatoes are not the best, that's what you'll end up with.
3. Ginger paste: Freshly made ginger paste adds a ton of flavor to the karahi.
4. Whole spices (bay leaves, cloves, black and green cardamom and black peppercorns): Whole spices add a lot of flavour to any dish, but if you don't have all these spices, don't worry, and use the ones that you do have. Or substitute with a pinch of garam masala powder.
5. Green chillies and cilantro (coriander) leaves: these really amp up the flavor quotient by several notches.
The star ingredients are tomatoes and ginger, which give this dish its distinctive flavor. You'll notice there's no garlic and that's because we want the taste of ginger to stand out and dominate.
Besides these ingredients, you will also need cooking oil and salt, of course. Oh, and just a little sugar to counter the tartness of the tomatoes. If you have these things, you're all set. No onions to caramelize, no fancy ingredients or steps, nothing really to make your life hard in the kitchen.
Instructions
1. Heat the cooking oil in the karahi and add the whole spices. Let the spices sizzle for a few moments.
2. Add the ginger paste and sauté for two minutes in the hot oil.
3. Now, add the chicken. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes or until the chicken loses its pinkish color and turns white.
4. Tip in the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook, uncovered on medium heat for 25 minutes until the chicken is tender and the liquid has dried.
5. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add slit green chillies.
6. Finally, top with ginger slivers and cilantro leaves. Serve hot with the bread of your choice or rice.
Top Tips
1. Choose red and ripe tomatoes for full flavor and color. I've even made karahi chicken with a box of cherry tomatoes! It turned out quite good if a little extra tart.
2. The tomatoes will release a lot of liquid, so there's no need to add any water to the chicken. You want the tomatoes to cling to the chicken in a thick coating.
3. To make the ginger paste, peel some fresh ginger, chop it roughly, and put it in the blender with a few tablespoons water. Blend to get a smooth paste. The extra paste can be stored in the fridge for later use. It stays good for a couple of weeks.
4. Sugar cuts the sourness of the tomatoes and makes the curry a darker red. One teaspoon should be enough.
Best Sides Dishes
This boneless chicken karahi tastes fantastic on its own with some naan, but if you are feeling really fancy, you can whip up a few easy side dishes to accompany it.
- Bombay Potatoes - Crispy baby potatoes with soft insides.
- Cumin Rice - Basmati rice flavored with cumin and other whole spices.
- Maash Dal - Split and skinned black gram lentils with a warm, nutty taste.
- Dahi Baingan - Lightly fried eggplant, onions, garlic, and cilantro in cold yogurt.
These are just a few possibilities! Find a lot more ideas for what to serve with chicken curry in this post: 20+ Best Side Dishes for Chicken Curry.
If you made this recipe, please consider giving it a star rating and a comment below. And if you're on Instagram, feel free to tag me so I can see your creation. I'd love to hear from you! Thank you:)
📖 Recipe
Karahi Chicken
Equipment
- Blender for making the ginger paste
- Karahi or wok for cooking the chicken
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon cooking oil neutral
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 3 green cardamom
- ½ teaspoon peppercorns
- 2 tablespoon ginger paste
- 3 chicken breasts boneless, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 5 ripe tomatoes medium-sized, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 Thai green chillies
- 1 tablespoon ginger juliennes
- 2 tablespoon cilantro leaves chopped
Instructions
- Heat the cooking oil in a medium-sized karahi or wok and add the whole spices. Let the spices sizzle for a few moments.
- Add the ginger paste and sauté for two minutes in the hot oil.
- Add the chicken. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes or until the chicken loses its pinkish color and turns white.
- Tip in the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook, uncovered on medium heat for 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the liquid has dried.
- In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add slit green chillies.
- Finally, top with ginger juliennes and cilantro leaves. Serve hot with the bread of your choice or rice.
Notes
- Choose good quality ripe tomatoes for this recipe. This is what will make or break the curry.
- There is no need to add water at any stage of the cooking.
- Make your own ginger paste by blending peeled and chopped ginger root in a blender with a few tablespoons of water. Refrigerate the extra in a sealed glass jar for later use.
Adeeba Rao says
Would love to try your recipe! Looks delicious 😋