- Hey, everyone, hope you're
having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens.
And today we're gonna be cooking a recipe
for Pakistani street
food-style chicken karahi.
Oh!
And this is one of my favorite moves.
Chili powder and a bit of black pepper.
I'm just gonna add in a slice.
(clanking)
(upbeat music)
Hey, everyone, welcome
to "Street Food at Home."
We love to travel but
we can't always travel,
so I'm taking you to the
street food cart at home,
the street food kitchen.
And we are gonna cook
some of my favorite street food recipes.
Today, it's Pakistani-style
chicken karahi.
(upbeat percussion music)
(speaking foreign language)
(pans clanking)
To me, if there's one single dish
that really represents
Pakistani food and culture,
it's a karahi.
And not only because it's so delicious,
but it's the dish that
people gather together for,
and that's what makes it so special.
Just come around here real fast.
I had to bust out the Pakistani Pesha,
these are actually Peshawari chappals
for the occasion.
The greatest sandals.
So I'll be cooking today in
the greatest footwear possible,
straight from Peshawar.
Probably one of my top
food memories in Pakistan
is the karahi of many different types.
And just hearing, when
you go to a restaurant,
walking down the street,
you hear the clanking of the pans,
you hear the moving,
they just like,
they roar the fire, they
clank the pans, the karahi,
and you can just smell
the aroma of the spices.
And karahi is actually
the name for the pot
which is similar to a wok
but it's a rounded pot
with curved high edges,
typically made from steel or iron.
It's perfect for making curries, stews,
and you can fry just about anything in it.
With the curved edges,
you are able to really stir
and mix your ingredients so effectively.
And I love that clanking on the metal.
So we've got the chicken here.
The whole chicken.
Best to use the whole chicken
so you have different pieces.
But I can remember my first,
I think our first karahi was in Lahore
on our first day of visiting Pakistan,
and we went to a place called Butt Karahi,
which is legendary throughout Pakistan
for their karahis, both
chicken and mutton.
And I actually had to choose,
you get to choose your
own chicken, live chicken.
They're giving me the honor
of choosing the chicken,
so I have the pressure.
I have no idea how to
choose a good chicken.
(chickens clucking)
Which one do you think?
That one?
- Beautiful.
Very very nice.
- Okay.
I'll choose this chicken.
One of the interesting things
is that they peel,
they take off the skin.
So I think that there's enough oil,
there's enough richness in the curry
when you cook it,
and the butter that they use,
that they don't want the extra skin.
I think I need my mother-in-law,
to come help me chop off this chicken.
She's so much better than I am.
(pounding)
In Lahore, they just
kinda yanked off the skin.
It was pretty cool.
Okay.
That works.
(speaking foreign language)
Oh, nice.
She knows exactly where those
joints are and everything.
(Mark laughing)
In Pakistan, they had
this really unique way
of chopping meat,
using this knife which you
hold between your toes.
And then just slice to you.
You could also buy chicken
that's already chopped up.
But I think a whole chicken is the best
'cause you have all the different parts.
(pounding)
(speaking foreign language)
Chicken's ready.
Skinless.
Keep the bones in.
Let's get the ginger garlic ready.
And what struck me actually in Pakistan
is the use of ginger.
I loved the ginger.
And scrape it up.
I think you wanna take off the skin anyway
'cause it's bitter.
(pounding)
The cloves just fall out.
Okay, I think that's probably good.
And drop this into the mortar and pestle.
Bring this up here.
And we're just gonna smash this
into a ginger garlic paste.
(pounding)
I think we can start frying now.
Let's fire up the,
the karahi.
(lighter clicking)
(loud blowing)
You wanna crank up the fire pretty high.
I'm gonna first add in some oil.
They added in quite a lot more than that,
but I think that will do.
Drop in that chicken, be careful.
(loud sizzling)
(clanking)
Oh, I forgot to even chop
up those breasts though.
Hold on, I made a mistake.
I'm just gonna really quickly,
I totally forgot to just chop
up those chicken breasts.
Whoops.
Okay, go in.
I'm gonna add in a little bit of salt.
And again, there's so
many different process,
different ways to do this.
I know at the legendary Butt Karahi,
they pressure cook the
chicken with some tomatoes.
And then fry it like this.
But we're gonna do this method
where we just fry off the chicken,
almost like a shallow fry,
and then we'll add in all of
the spices and the tomatoes.
Also, another thing is
typically the karahis,
they don't have a handle,
so they use almost like a pliers
to turn the pan as they rotate it,
as they stir, and as they just clank.
You can hear the clanking
of the pans, of the karahis.
You mostly wanna just brown the chicken.
I think that's okay for now.
We're gonna drop in the ginger garlic,
and the tomatoes.
Ginger garlic, all of it.
And tomatoes are gonna go in.
I think maybe four,
four tomatoes should be good.
And I'd just like to
put them in there whole.
Maybe five.
(sizzling)
(pan clanking)
Immediately you can smell
that ginger garlic starting to caramelize.
And we threw in those tomatoes whole
because they're gonna,
that's gonna make the sauce,
that's gonna make a lot of the sauce.
And I think at this point,
if you don't have enough oil.
Often times, they were
really oily in Pakistan,
which is extremely good,
but I think you can add water.
Other people did it, yeah, with water,
some water in there as well.
(loud sizzling)
Okay, and now we can
really crank up the fire.
Do it real karahi style.
I'm gonna turn up the fire.
At this point, we let it boil for a while,
let that chicken cook
and you want those tomatoes to cook
until they're really soft
and just dissolve into the sauce.
And in Pakistan,
they just had,
at the real karahi restaurants
they just had lines.
The chefs are so
talented, so multitasking.
They know all the
ingredients for each karahi.
(clanking)
But they have every step down,
they can't make a mistake
and so they add different spices
to that different burner
along the way down
until they're finally finished.
(clanking)
And then they just go down the line,
just stirring them when
they need to be stirred,
jumping from karahi to karahi.
That multitasking karahi
skill is incredible.
It's so much fun.
A really hot, strong fire
really helps this time
and in Pakistan, they cook
it on such a high fire,
the flames just rise past
the edges of the karahi.
You can see those tomatoes cooking.
Oh yeah, this is just bringing back
the memories already of Pakistan,
the clanking of the karahi.
Just the steam and spices
just flowing in the air.
At this point, the tomatoes
should be starting to dissolve.
And what you wanna do is
you wanna take off that.
Ooh, yeah.
That's pretty hot.
You wanna take off the tomato skin.
Okay, this is better.
You wanna pull off that tomato skin.
Get it all there.
Tomato skin, take off the tomato skin.
This one has already just disintegrated
and fully fallen apart.
Grab that.
And then once you have all
of that tomato skin off,
you're gonna take your spatula
and just mash up.
(clanking)
Mash up those tomatoes,
into a perfect harmony tomato sauce.
So I added in a little bit more water
and now I'm just gonna
let that simmer again
a little bit more.
Let those tomatoes fully dissolve.
Thinking back, reflecting back
on all the different karahis we ate,
I think almost all the time,
we ate them with tandoori
roti in Pakistan,
which is where they flap out the,
they slap out the dough
and then into the tandoor,
and then it cooks on
the side of that oven.
But we don't have a tandoor,
so we're gonna make more of
a simple at-home-style roti.
And all it is, is flour and water.
I'm gonna add in the water.
And you wanna add only half
of it first, I believe.
And then you just gotta massage it in.
I'm definitely not an
expert at making roti.
I've only done it a few times in my life,
but this is a really simple
way to make it at home,
and all it is, is flour and water.
You get clumplets,
and then you can add in a
little more water, I believe.
A little bit of it at a time.
Knead this just for a few minutes.
You gotta let it rest for about 15 minutes
to let that come together
before you then make roti.
I think that's looking pretty good.
Let's put this in the
fridge for about 15 minutes.
And back to the karahi.
Oh yeah, this is looking delicious.
Sauces are coming together,
the oils, the juices, the
tomatoes have disintegrated.
I think, time to add all the spices.
And something I loved about Pakistan
is that they don't,
there's no measurements.
They just scoop in the spices
and they just toss them in.
They know from experience and
from doing it so many times.
(pans clanking)
For those of us who are less experienced,
who don't really know how much to add,
it's about taste-testing,
it's about,
because there's really no
right or wrong exact amount.
It's about your taste preference.
It's about the combinations.
We need to have a general
idea of the combinations
and the different spices to use.
Start with cumin.
Cumin goes in.
Coriander powder.
Chili powder.
And,
I wouldn't say they
were usually very spicy,
but some of them were spicier than others.
So it's kinda like preference.
And, sorry, just to clarify,
I mean, spicy as in chili spicy.
But spicy, full of spices,
just packed with spices.
Okay, next up, a touch of garam masala,
and a bit of black pepper,
and I'll add in just a touch of turmeric.
And let's get that stirred up.
Oh, that aroma.
The spice and the color
immediately changes.
When they were adding in the spice though
at the restaurants in Pakistan,
man, they just flew, they
just chucked in the spices.
I was a little,
not quite as fast.
Oh, that aroma.
Okay, and we're gonna add in a few more.
We're gonna add in some fenugreek leaves
and then the green chilies.
Pull off the stem.
These will add some good heat to it too.
And then I think we'll just
quickly slice them in half.
Chilies go in.
And then I'm just gonna toss on
a bit of fenugreek leaves.
(upbeat percussion music)
(sizzling)
Quickly taste test.
(upbeat percussion music)
Mmm.
Oh, yeah.
(laughing)
Okay, I think it needs more salt though.
I almost forgot one more key
ingredient, really quickly,
and not everywhere added this
but yeah, to get that extra richness,
this is the ultimate
preferred richness factor.
Butter.
Probably just a,
that should be good.
I'm just gonna add in a slice,
but in some of the
restaurants in Pakistan,
they added in like a block of butter.
Let that melt into the sauce.
(scraping)
(Mark laughing)
That's gonna be so good.
(karahi sizzling)
(pan clanking)
Most of the time when we had karahi,
they simmered it all,
most of the liquid out.
So it was like a thick and rich sauce
rather than watery.
So we're gonna simmer that out
on a very low heat.
In the meantime, we're gonna just prepare
a few more ingredients to toss on top,
ginger and coriander.
Fresh coriander.
What we are looking for
this time is juliennes.
So we're gonna peel it,
peel the skin very very thin juliennes.
So I'm gonna cut it up very thin.
For the coriander,
just run our knife through this.
(sizzling)
Oh yeah, that's looking good.
I think we're just about ready.
A few more green chilies just on top,
just for garnish,
just to let them wilt,
and we are almost ready to go.
Chop 'em in half again.
(upbeat percussion music)
Ginger.
And finally the fresh coriander.
Or you could give it just one quick,
mostly like a fold into it.
I wanna just fold into it.
Okay, perfect.
I think we're ready.
(laughing)
Okay.
Okay, turn off the fire.
I think we're ready.
One more thing I wanted to add
is that in some places
they added a lot of cream to the karahi,
but some places didn't.
So I think it's your preference
but I chose not to add cream
because the cream sort
of mellows out the spice,
the stronger spice flavors.
So I really like it with
the stronger spice flavors.
So it's really up to you,
you can add some cream to this as well.
It's roti time.
I'm just gonna quickly knead
that dough one more time.
I really hope the roti comes out.
Oh yeah, it feels quite good.
It feels smooth.
And then we're gonna
grab a ball of the dough.
Make it into a circle.
(pounding)
Take a little flour.
And then we can roll it out.
(Mark and Ying laughing)
Oh man, my roti is definitely
not gonna be perfect.
The amazing aunties of Pakistan and the,
all the chefs at the restaurants.
Man, they were so expert.
On a low.
(pan clanking)
(laughing)
So my favorite guy was in Lahore.
(pounding)
Literally in milliseconds,
he pounded out the roti.
The skill, the skill was unbelievable.
Whoa.
Okay, I'm not gonna mess around anymore.
To the pan.
Okay, let's make another one.
Oh man, at this stage,
I just wanna get these rotis
done as fast as possible.
Because that curry,
that karahi is ready.
I almost can't handle myself.
So they might be a little
bit rushed, these rotis.
Well maybe flip it.
Oh, it looks okay.
I think it's ready.
Okay, perfect.
So much respect to all of the chefs,
all of the home cooks,
all of the street food cooks.
The way, the knowledge, and
the experience that they have,
and just their methods,
and just their effectiveness,
and their multitasking is commendable.
Ooh, that's hot.
Ooh, I think I burnt it a little bit.
It's a little bit burnt
but I think it's okay.
Oh, we got the puffiness, yes.
Look at that bubble.
Boing, boing, boing.
It's ready, right?
I think it's ready when it
starts puffing up like that.
Ooh, ooh, that's hot.
(laughing)
Oh, that's hot.
I'm gonna make just one more
and then we're gonna,
I can't wait any longer.
Are you the first customer today?
(laughing)
Here, Micah.
Try the,
try the roti.
Ooh, it's hot.
Wait, try this one.
(blowing)
- [Micah] Thank you.
- And the idea, when you're in Pakistan,
the rotis, as soon as they're ready,
they come to your table.
You always have to eat fresh, hot roti.
Literally out of the tandoor,
onto your plate,
and you immediately scoop into the karahi.
So I'm gonna do my best here.
I'm gonna cook this last one,
and then we're gonna run over to the table
to take our first bite.
Moments from our first bite here.
(laughing)
Onto the plate.
Okay, and immediately gonna
grab the karahi onto the table,
right onto that wok
stand so it doesn't fall.
Tear up some roti.
You can see it's dried up the sauce,
it's dried up.
And that's typically how
it was served in Pakistan
because you want that sauce to enrich
and to thicken, to make it luscious.
But at the bottom you can see
there's gonna be some juice and sauce,
and all that ginger.
And one more thing is that in Pakistan,
really, the main way to
eat it is communally.
All you and your friends,
you gather around the karahi.
You scoop into the central karahi.
It's sharing, it's community.
It's just, it represents
the hospitality, the love,
the food of Pakistan so well.
And that's one of the reasons
why I love karahi so much.
And big shout-out to Ali.
We enjoyed many, many karahis together.
Okay, let's dig in.
I'm going for that drumstick.
Grab a chunk off.
Oh, and at this point,
the meat should just come off the bone.
Oh, it's still blazing hot.
You can smell the butter in there.
And then I'm gonna scoop in for
some of those green chilies.
(upbeat percussion music)
Mmm.
Oh, wow.
That's pretty awesomely good.
The richness of that butter,
all that blend of spices,
and then the chicken
just falls off the bone,
just melts in your mouth.
The ginger comes in so nicely,
and I didn't expect that
before going to Pakistan.
(laughing)
Oh, that's a bite.
Oh, it's steaming hot too.
One of the great dishes of
the world, without a doubt.
(engines roaring)
(honking)
At some of the most
popular karahi restaurants,
there would just be this
massive dining area,
a sea of people,
friends and families all coming together,
sharing a karahi.
It's much better to eat
a karahi with friends.
My buddy, Dwight.
- What's up, guys?
Hey there.
Ready to enjoy this.
It smells amazing.
- Oh, man.
- Nice and hot.
And I see those chilies in there
looking pretty green and fresh.
- Let's dig in, dude.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- My buddy, Dwight,
from Courageous Kitchen.
Way better enjoyed with friends.
- So I wanna dig right into the saucy bit,
Yeah.
All right.
Give me those chilies.
Okay, there we go.
Ooh, fingers burning.
Chilies first.
You can taste all the
spices you put on there.
Dude, we're gonna be licking our fingers.
(Mark laughing)
This is so good.
(upbeat music)
- Now once you finish your meal,
and if you look around, almost everybody,
well there's people
across the playing field
that are in the position,
but once you're finished with your meal,
I wouldn't say it's mandatory
but, yes, it is mandatory,
to get into the position,
where you elbow down on the pillow.
And this is my first time in the position,
in the right clothes,
in the right attire.
This is one of the most
comfortable positions after you eat
that you will ever have in your life.
(Ali laughing)
My good friend, Ali, knows that very well.
- That's my signature position.
(Mark laughing)
That's my default position.
Right after having food.
- Default position?
- Yeah.
I don't even have to make an effort.
I actually automatically
go into this position.
- Yeah, I saw him just
slide into that position
after he took his last bite.
That wraps up this Pakistani street food
chicken karahi recipe.
I'll have the ingredients
in the description box below
that you can check out.
I didn't even know what I
was fully doing every step
but I think it turned out really tasty.
It turned out really good,
and so I'd encourage
you to make it yourself,
if you have a chance.
And I would love to see your photos
and hear about your
experience in the comments.
Or why don't we #StreetFoodAtHome
and I'd love to see your photos.
And I wanna say a big thank you to you
for watching this video.
Stay tuned, there's gonna be
more "Street Food at Home."
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See you on the next video.
