Lahori chargha is the most satisfying street food for desi people in Pakistan. It’s a chicken chargha recipe prepared with whole chicken marinated with desi homemade chargha masala properly steamed to make it tender and juicy from inside and then shallow fried to get the golden roasted crust.
A perfect recipe for family dinner and party. Just sprinkle chaat masala before serving and enjoy this tempting chicken with green chutney or sauce.
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About This Recipe
Chargha (چرغا) is a famous food that originated in Punjab province of Pakistan. It’s the most popular recipe of street food that people love to eat all across the country. Lahori chargha is prepared with whole chicken (without skin) marinated overnight in special chargha masala to penetrate the flavor of spices and lemon that makes the tasty flash. Steaming makes the chicken so juicy and tender from inside and then deep frying adds a crispy golden brown roasted texture to chicken that makes it super delicious.
Today I am super duper excited to share my family's favorite recipe that we all love to make at home. It’s a perfect recipe for a family get-together! And you know the most exciting part is that you can make it ahead of time.
In Pakistan, we can easily find good places to eat chicken chargha but living outside I can hardly find the one with Lahori flavor. Roasted whole chicken can be prepared in a variety of ways that can easily be found in every restaurant but the taste of Pakistani style Lahori chicken chargha is awesome! If you haven’t tried then give it a try and I am sure you will love it to eat again and again.
My Experience... & Memories
In Pakistani cuisine, chargha and sajji has a special attraction that everyone tempts to eat due to the special flavor and aroma. My father was a true lover of chicken chargha and he was always curious to seek good places to try the best. So whenever I eat and make chargha at home, it takes me to reminiscent my childhood memories especially those cold and chilly winter nights, and eating chargha with family was an awesome experience.
It's an overwhelming experience to cook homemade chicken chargha Lahori style with the same taste as you eat in restaurants and street food. Easy recipe for foodies to make at home! Give it a try, as you will love it!
Watch Video
If you are a beginner and trying chargha first time then it will be easy and quick for you to watch step-by-step directions before making.
SEE ALSO: Lahori Keema Naan
Ingredients
How to Make
Step 01 – Marking & Cuts
It’s an essential step to make a perfect chargha. First, take the chicken without skin and then add the marking points on the chicken breast and legs. With the help of a sharp knife make a deep cut on both sides of the leg and breast.
Step 02 – Marination
It's recommended to massage the chicken with fresh lemon juice with a sprinkle of salt so it will have sour and citric flavor infused in a chicken flash that will give good flavor while eating.
Preparation of Homemade Chargha Masala: It’s easy to prepare chicken chargha masala with homemade spices. In a deep bowl, add thick yogurt, spice up with salt, red chilies, roasted coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, chaat masala, cumin powder, and mango powder. Mix all the ingredients to make a homogenous mixture and apply to chicken. Place the chicken in a warm place for 7 to 8 hours.
Don't forget to truss the chicken legs with string or thread. It will keep the chicken in shape after steaming and frying. I used the thread to tie a knot on chicken legs.
Step 03 – Steaming
Place the overnight marinated chicken in Aluminium foil and wrap it from all sides to avoid leakages. Now steam the chicken in a steamer or place a strainer in a deep pan by adding ⅓ of water. Place the chicken over the strainer and cover for 40 minutes to get tender.
Step 04 – Deep Frying
After 40 minutes of steaming, now chicken is ready for frying. Carefully unfold the aluminum foil as it’s full of steam. Place the chicken in preheated oil and fry on medium heat from all sides until it gets golden brown color.
After frying, the chicken is ready to serve! Sprinkle chaat masala and have a bite with green chutney or raita.
Expert Tips
- Take the whole chicken without skin.
- Make deep marks on chicken as it will help to penetrate the chargha masala in chicken.
- Overnight marination is good to infuse all the spices in chicken.
- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature when applying marination. If you take it out from freezer then microwave or give it time to come on room temperature.
- Lemon juice and salt on chicken skin add a sour and citric taste to chicken that will give you the perfect taste while eating chargha. It’s a chef tip that I took from a local chargha expert on street food.
- When marinating, make sure the marination should not be watery or runny in texture. It should properly stick on chicken without dropouts.
- Don’t steam for long time otherwise, the chicken will break. 40 to 50 minutes on medium steaming is fine!
- Deep or shallow fry chicken on high to medium heat to get a properly golden texture. Never fry on low heat otherwise the chicken will release the water.
- It’s easy to use the spoon to handle chicken while deep frying. I managed chicken for easy roll out while drying using spoon.
- Sprinkle of homemade chaat masala will add an overwhelming taste in chicken. Don’t skip it!
How To Serve
Chargha is special so serving needs to be special and tempting. It’s whole chicken meat that needs to be complemented with other side ideas. I love to prepare green chutney, imli ki chutney, and fresh vegetable salad. The bite of chicken with green raita makes a perfect flavor. Tandoori roti, naan, kulcha, or simple homemade chappati also goes well with chicken.
In addons, I like homemade fries, roasted veggies, fire roasted tomatoes, chickpea salad, and garlic butter rice.
How To Store
Chargha recipe is multi-purpose that you can use in a variety of ways. So store the leftover chargha in airtight container in the refrigerator for 01 week. If you want to freeze then freeze it after steaming for 01 month. Don’t freeze for a long time as it’s not carrying any food preservatives.
Other Cooking Methods
Whole chicken chargha can be prepared in different ways. Deep-fried chicken chargha is the traditional recipe but you can also make it in the oven, air fryer, and on charcoal. All methods are good to give it try as it’s super delicious in all forms.
Chargha Recipe in Oven
Chargha can easily prepare in oven and it’s the simplest method of cooking. Marinate the chicken overnight, skip the steaming part and just place the chicken over aluminum foil and give it a good spray of oil. Preheat the oven to 220C. Put the foil over the oven griller and bake for about 45 minutes. For the best result, keep a small water bowl in the oven as it will make steam, and the chicken will remain juicy while cooking. After 45 minutes, broil the chicken for 10 to 15 minutes to get the golden marks on the chicken. (Note: Broil is the process to turn on the upper grill of oven to roast the chicken).
In the same way, you can make the chargha in oven rotisserie which is famous for spit roasting. Don’t steam the chicken if you are cooking with this method. Just set the chicken in rotisserie spit (rod). You can check your oven guideline for the rotisserie settings to follow the cooking process.
Air Fryer Chargha
It’s a healthy way to cook the whole chicken in an air fryer. Place the chicken on aluminum foil and generously spray the oil over the base of aluminum foil and chicken. Place the chicken over aluminum foil and set it in your airfryer basket. Check the size of your air fryer before this step. Turn on the air fryer and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes at 300C. After 30 minutes, flip the chicken and cook for more 30 minutes.
BBQ Chargha
It’s the most aromatic way to cook chicken chargha on charcoal with a sprinkle of desi ghee. The recipe will remain the same. For this method, I recommend steaming the chicken for 20 minutes so it will be half cooked and the rest of the cooking will be done on charcoal. To avoid the steaming step, you can add 1 tsp raw papaya (kaccha pappita) that will tenderize the chicken during marination.
Keeping the chicken on the griller while cooking on charcoal is best. Cook from all sides until it gets golden marks on chicken. Drizzle desi ghee or oil while cooking. It will make the chicken more scrumptious and the aroma will tempt you to eat.
Don't forget to check out the detailed Recipe card or watch the video!
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Don't Forget to Check: Shish Tawook | Chicken Kabsa | Chicken Mandi | White Biryani
FAQ’s
Best Place to Try Chargha?
In Pakistan, street food is the best place to have chargha but if you are living outside Pakistan then find nearby chargha related to your living. In the United States, Culver city chargha house is so famous. Give it a try!
Can I make chargha with chicken pieces?
Yes, you can! Follow the same recipe and apply marination on chicken pieces and then steam it and fry. You will get the same taste. Many people who are reluctant to cut chargha, they can make in form of pieces. Presentation will be different but the taste will remain same.
Why chargha break up?
Due to extreme steaming the chargha might break while frying. Chicken is delicate after steaming so carefully handle it while frying. Mostly chargha break while frying so handle gently with spoons to flip the chicken and take it out after frying.
Can I make Chargha with Turkey?
Yes, you can make it with the whole Turkey by following the same recipe.
More Chicken Recipes
Chicken Pakora | Oven Baked Chicken Breast | Honey Garlic Chicken
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Lahori Chargha Recipe
Materials
- 1 cup Yogurt
- 1 tsp Grated Garlic
- 1 tsp Grated Ginger
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Chaat Masala
- ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- ½ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Mango Powder
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Make a deep cut marks on chicken legs and breast with sharp knife.
- Apply fresh lemon juice and sprinkle of salt on chicken skin. Massage it to penetrate the flavor of lemon in chicken.
- In a deep bowl, add yogurt and season with salt, red chilies, roasted coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, chaat masala, cumin powder, and mango powder.
- Mix all the ingredients to make a homogenous mixture and apply to chicken.
- Truss the chicken legs with string or thread to maintain the shape.
- Place the chicken in a warm place for 7 to 8 hours.
- Now place the overnight marinated chicken in Aluminium foil and wrap it from all sides to avoid leakages.
- Steam the chicken in a steamer or place a strainer in a deep pan by adding ⅓ of water.
- Place the chicken over the strainer and cover for 40 minutes to get tender.
- After 40 minutes of steaming, now chicken is ready for frying.
- Carefully unfold the aluminum foil as it’s full of steam.
- Place the chicken in preheated oil and fry on medium heat from all sides until it gets golden brown color.
- After frying, the chicken is ready to serve!
- Sprinkle chaat masala and have a bite with green chutney or raita.
Video
Notes
- Take the whole chicken without skin.
- Make deep marks on chicken as it will help to penetrate the chargha masala in chicken.
- Overnight marination is good to infuse all the spices in chicken.
- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature when applying marination. If you take it out from freezer then microwave or give it time to come on room temperature.
- Lemon juice and salt on chicken skin add a sour and citric taste in chicken that will give you the perfect taste while eating chargha.
- When marinating, make sure the marination should not be watery or runny in texture. It should properly stick on chicken without dropouts.
- Truss the chicken legs with string to maintain the chicken in shape after steaming and frying.
- Don’t steam for a long time otherwise, the chicken will break. 40 to 50 minutes on medium steaming is fine to tender the chicken!
- Deep or shallow fry chicken on high to medium heat to get signature golden texture. Never fry on low heat otherwise the chicken will release the water.
- It’s easy to use the spoon to handle chicken while deep frying. I managed chicken for easy roll out while drying using a spoon.
- Sprinkle of homemade chaat masala will add an overwhelming taste to chicken. Don’t skip it!
Hinz
If you are looking to try something desi then try this Lahori Chargha recipe. It will give you true punjabi street food flavor. Easy to make and full of taste!