Lahori Chargha
Cultural Story (Umara Muneer)
If you are a Pakistani and specially Lahori or love the spicy Pakistani food, I assure you, this Lahori Chargha recipe is made for you! Lahore is a city with an extremely rich food culture. People from Lahore are famous all over the country for their love for food.
Chargha means Chicken in Pushto and Lahori chargha originates from the city of Lahore in Pakistan. It’s made with whole chicken with skin removed and deep cuts added, marinated in some very aromatic spices. And then steamed plus fried to cook. You sprinkle lots of chat masala and lemon on top of it, dip it in some mint chutney and smack your lips with every bite.
This has been one of my favorite chicken recipes to make for dawats (get together) and seeing that we live here in Canada, I haven’t even found a place which serves authentic Lahori Chargha, so I end up always making it at home. But honestly, it’s so basic and full of taste!
You can of course change the method of final cooking to your liking (baking or air frying) But the traditional way is to steam and fry. Also for your information a good chargha is so hard to photograph :-) Lets get started;
Ingredients
· 1 whole chicken, of about 1.5 to 2 kg with skin removed and cuts added.
· 1 egg
· 2 tbsp of yogurt
· 1 tbsp of garlic ginger paste
· 1 tsp of turmeric powder
· 2 tsp of red chili powder
· 2 tsp of cumin powder
· 1 tsp of whole spice powder (garam masala)
· 3 tbsp of lemon
· 1 tsp chat masala
· 1 tsp green cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)
· 2 tsp salt
· A pinch of nutmeg powder
· A pinch of red food color
Oil for frying
Lahori Chargha
Instructions
1. Skin a whole chicken and clean it. Add deep horizontal cuts along the chicken. Treat the chicken with 1/2 cup of vinegar and let it sit in the vinegar for 10 to 15 mins to get rid of all the smell.
2. Throw away the vinegar and use a paper towel to pat the chicken dry.
3. In a bowl, add all the ingredients for marinade and mix well.
4. Coat the marinade all over the chicken evenly making sure you get all the cuts and nooks.
5. Cover the chicken and let it sit in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.
6. Bring out the chicken and let it sit out for 30 mins before cooking. Tie the legs of the chicken together with a thread. And use toothpicks to pin the wings to the body.
7. In a deep pot, add about 1/4 cup of oil and 3 to 4 onions cut up in halves. Preferably place a griddle below the pot or use a heavy bottom pot.
8. Place your chicken on top of the onions. And cover the pot with a lid.
9. Steam the chicken at high heat for 5 mins and then at medium to low heat for another 25 mins. (increase the time by 10 mins if your chicken weighs more than 4 lbs or 1.5 kg)
10. Remove the chicken from the pot and deep fry it in hot oil for 6 mins on each side or until it looks crispy golden on each side. Make sure the oil level covers half of the chicken while you fry it.
11. Dish out on a plate and sprinkle some more chat masala and lemon juice on top of it generously.
Notes
Handle the chicken carefully while deep frying it. Use strong tongs to handle the chicken. And save your hands from oil spill too.
Use gloves while marinating chicken to prevent hands from staining.
Strain the left over oil and use it to make gravies and curries.
Increase the spices and salt levels a bit if your chicken weighs more than 1.5 kg or 4 lbs