Chicken Karahi

Last month I hosted 12 friends for Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan.  As you can probably tell I am a beginner in the world of desi cooking.  I tend to force myself to learn through trial by fire.  I make things for the first time for dinner parties since cooking for one is not something that inspires me.  I made a few dishes, but the one that came out the best was the chicken karahi.  I used boneless breast meat because it was what I had and because it is the easiest to prepare.  This recipe is for the real deal though. As I've said before, meat is most delicious nearest to the bone.  At home you can eat like real folks and not put on dainty airs. So enjoy!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (3.5lbs) - cut into 12-15 pieces without skin

.25 cup vinegar

1 tsp salt

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2 medium onions chopped

1lb plum tomatoes chopped

16 green chilies cut into halves

1 inch  fresh ginger juliened
1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 bunch cilantro chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp crushed pepper flakes

1 tbsp crushed cumin seeds

1 tsbp crushed coriander seeds

.5 cup oil

Chicken Prep

First thing you want to do is prep the chicken.  We do this to almost all chicken before we cook it.  In a bowl, rub the teaspoon of salt over all the chicken and then add the vinegar, make sure all parts of the chicken are covered.  Put back in the fridge for 2 hours.  Take it back out before cooking and put it in the strainer for 10 minutes so all the excess vinegar is removed.

Directions

Use a wok, or karahi to make this dish.  

1. Start with half a cup of oil on medium heat.  
2. Saute chicken and 12 green chilies for 5 minutes.  The chicken should change color.  Then remove both chicken and chilies from the oil and place separately.
3. In the same wok and same oil add in the onions and fry them to a light golden color.  
4. Once the onions are the right color, add in the garlic paste, ginger paste, and tomatoes.  Don't break and mush the tomatoes, they are supposed to retain their form as part of the beauty of this dish.
5. Add in remaining spices.
6. Add chicken and chilies back into the wok.  Don't break and beat the chicken to death. lol Be gentle when you stir and stay close to the pot as you turn the ingredients in the wok.
7. Add half the cilantro.  Give it one final stir.
8. Turn off the heat and garnish the top with the remaining cilantro, fresh ginger, and remaining chilies chopped.  
9. Serve hot with naan or the like.  Serves 6.