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lahori chicken chargha

Lahori Chicken Chargha

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.
5 from 4 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Pakistani
Keyword: chicken chargha, Lahori Chargha
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Marination: 8 hours
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 3 Persons
Calories: 630kcal
Author: Hinz

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon Grated Garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Grated Ginger
  • 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
  • 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Chaat Masala
  • ½ teaspoon Black Pepper Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Mango Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 tablespoon Oil
  • 2 teaspoon 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!

Nutrition

Calories: 630kcal