Chicken Karahi - Zaynab Siddiqui

Chicken Karahi.  [Pronounced car-hi] 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped and seeds removed

2 small Chicken Breast, sliced thin (like in a stir fry)

1 green chili pepper (jalpeno or serano), minced with seeds removed

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 inch piece of ginger (sliced thinly or grated). I prefer grated

hand full of chopped cilantro

Spices

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon Indian red chili powder (we call this lal mirch and its a spicier version of cayenne with a different flavor profile. You can use cayenne in this recipe but I'm pretty sure you can find lal mirch at Market District in the indian aisle.  If you omit the powder, then use more jalepeno for spice)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of Garam masala (indian all spice.- A blend of a ton of common spices)

Heat oil on a low heat and add the minced garlic.  Don't allow it to brown.  When it becomes aromatic, add the chopped tomatoes.  Mash up the tomatoes while they cook down for a few minutes.

Add turmeric and red chili powder to the pan and let those spices cook for a minute.

Increase heat to med/high and Add your chicken and cook it like a usual stir fry. Stir frequently and add salt.  (at this point you could do a shrimp version instead of a chicken.  I typically make this recipe with a half bone in chicken and a lot of flavor comes from the bone.  This is harder to cook for the first time so I'd just do boneless now and get the spice profile right)

When chicken is near completion, add your desired amount of green chili peppers to get it as spicy as you can handle.  Add ginger and green bell pepper at this time too.  Stir in and cook those flavors down for a minute.

If you can find Garam Masala powder at the grocery store, get it.  Its basically our version of all spice.  I put about 2 pinches of garam masala at the very end.

The end product should not be soupy but if its dried out add a little water so that you can pick up all the sauce with a piece of naan bread.  

When you are ready to eat, sprinkle chopped cilantro on top.

Enjoy fresh and hot.