There are some dishes in Pakistani cuisine that really don't need an introduction. Biryani, Pilau, Korma... they all speak for themselves. A delicious, well made mutton Karahi is also in this elite category.
Often found on the menus of dhabbas and restaurants all around Pakistan, served on special occasions and get-togethers, Karahi is just the epitome of good Pakistani food.
I've spoken about how dear Karahis are to me and my memories of family dinners growing up here in my Chicken Karahi recipe - Karahi for me was the desi equivilant of Sunday roast.
This recipe is a build-up of that Chicken Karahi recipe - the red meat equivalent which is equally as loved (and perhaps even preferred) by many.
The recipe I'm sharing today is for both a lamb and mutton Karahi. I've grouped both together because they are very similar meats, the only methodological difference being their cook time. Lamb I find is cooked more frequently here in the UK than mutton and mutton is the red meat of choice in Pakistan. To be honest, I am unsure about trends in other countries (you can let me know in the comments if you have any input here). Safe to address both in one recipe, I say!
What is a Karahi?
I've addressed this at more length in my Chicken Karahi recipe, but will give a quick sum up here.
A Karahi is the name of a wok-like cooking pan used in South Asia - its pretty handy when you want to cook something that has a lot of stirring action due to its shape.
This particular type of curry I'm sharing today has taken its name on from the cooking pan. However the pan in which its cooked isn't its most defining feature. A Karahi is a tomato, ginger and garlic heavy curry which traditionally is not cooked with onions or yogurt, unlike most other curries.
Online, you will find very few Karahi recipes which do not utilise onions or yogurt. Over the years, the traditional Karahi has been altered to suit the many different dhabas and restaurants it is served at mostly in making it cheaper by bulking up the masala with onions, which are a lot cheaper than tomatoes. Due to this, most people have integrated onions into their home-cooked Karahi recipes without actually knowing this is not the traditional way.
Of course, adding onions into the masala alters the taste and texture. When you make the masala as it is traditionally made, with a heavy hand on the ginger and garlic and plenty of tomatoes, you will taste the real deal, authentic flavour and for real you will be blown away! For those who may be skeptical of whether a curry without onions would be enough or even work, I am here to assure you... This masala is plentiful and finger-licking delicious!
Some Karahi Cooking Rules
I just want to lay down some ground-rules when it comes to cooking any Karahi recipe the authentic way, just so you can really get a feel of how Karahis are an inherently different to other curries.
- Karahis are usually cooked on a high heat throughout the entire cooking process and without the lid, as per my Chicken Karahi and Prawn Karahi recipe. However, we have to make an exception for lamb and mutton because they just won't cook through properly without a slow simmer. Therefore, we do have to simmer this before we actually begin on the masala. Some restaurants actually boil the mutton or lamb first till 80% done before using it, however I don't like to do this as I feel it's extra unnecessary hassle. This tip isexclusive for red meat Karahis only!
- There's a HUGE emphasis on fresh and crisp flavours in a Karahi. I highly recommend using fresh ingredients for this - no tinned or jarred ingredients, please. Mince the ginger and garlic fresh, chop the fresh tomatoes and ensure your coriander and green chilli is fresh too! Trust me, it makes all the difference here.
- We gotta use a LOT of ginger and garlic - it delivers the most amazing flavour AND also helps bulk up the masala a bit! I use one entire bulb of garlic for this recipe, but you can easily use two if you want a pronounced garlicky flavour. Same goes for the ginger too, easily double-able!
- Not a cooking rule, but due to the lack of onions in this curry, Karahis pair really well with an onion-y salad on the side.
On to the recipe!
If you make this dish, I'd love to see it! You can show me on Instagram - I'm @fatima.cooks 🙂
Lamb / Mutton Karahi - An Easy, Traditional Recipe
Delicious, luxurious and authentic lamb & mutton Karahi recipe for the win! When you want something special, this one is a winner
Ingredients
- ½ cup oil or ghee
- 500g lamb or mutton, bone in preferably
- 600g tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed
- 1 bulb garlic, minced
- 1 thumb sized chunk of ginger, minced
- 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2tsp paprika or kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1.5tsp black pepper
- 1tsp chilli flakes
- 0.5 teaspoon cumin powder
- 0.5 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1tsp onion seeds (kalonji, optional)
- 2 green chillis, slit in half if you like your Karahi hot
- 0.5 bunch coriander, chopped
- Ginger cut into matchsticks, as much as desired
Instructions
- Heat up your oil/ghee in a wok, cast iron skillet or karahi. Add the lamb/mutton and fry on high, stirring constantly until all the meat has changed its colour
- Add the minced ginger and garlic and give this a quick fry, until the raw smell goes away. Don't allow the ginger and garlic to colour too much
- Add all the spices and 1/1.5 cups of water for lamb and 2.5/3 cups of water for mutton. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and put to lid on. Simmer for 1hr for lamb and 2hrs for mutton. Keep checking during this time to ensure there is sufficient water and top up a little as and if required
- Once the simmer time is up, the meat should be 80% done and there shouldn't be much water in the pan. The pan will look quite oily (remember, you can remove the oil at the end if you want!)
- Turn the heat to high. Add the tomatoes. Let this cook on high, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan. The tomatoes will release A LOT of moisture. Keep stirring and just allow everything to concentrate
- Once the gravy (masala) looks wet but almost done and the oil is beginning to come to the surface, add in the chopped coriander and green chilli. Turn the heat to low and allow this to simmer without the lid on for 5 minutes
- Garnish with additional chopped coriander and the matchstick-cut ginger
Dave
Fatima, I have tried many a lamb curry recipe in the hope of replicating a really nice curry I had at a traditional restaurant.
Admittedly I did add cloves and green cardamon, habit I suppose. But the base you have provided was great.
Absolutely delicious Fatima.
This was the second recipe of yours I have tried, the former being the chicken Salan. It was because the Salan tasted so good I tried this one.
I have never ever left comments on recipe sites, this is a first for me, and with good reason.
Delicious, absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing Fatima!
Fatima
Thank you Dave, I appreciate you took the time out to leave a comment! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe. Hope you try out more!
Nomi
Looks really good. I prefer adding jalapenos and black pepper only. But tomatoes are a must
Shazia
Couple of questions before I attempt this
If I use twice the amount of beef, do I have to double everything else?
Can I use red chilli powder?
How many tomatoes would 600g be?
Fatima
Hi Shazia, apologies for my late reply. Your comment got marked as spam for some reason!
Yes, I would advise doubling everything if you double the meat. Also, 600g of tomatoes would depend on how big your tomatoes are, but they will be about 6-7 medium tomatoes.
Ammara
bit too spicy for me, but everyone absolutely loved it, it went down like a treat, thank you! <3
Fatima
Happy to hear they enjoyed it! 💖
Louisa
Hello. Do you have a video of this lamb mutton karahi? If so where can I find the link to it? Thanks.
Fatima
I don't have a video... yet!
Bruce Thomas
Hi Fatima,
I’m going to try this recipe as I love karahi!
Two questions please. Firstly, can you use chopped tomatoes versus fresh tomatoes? And, if described in a restaurant as ‘meat karahi’ would this most likely be mutton please?
Can’t wait to make this curry so thanks very much for sharing it!
STan
How does the recipe change if you want to add one chopped onion?
Thanks!
Fatima
Personally, I'd chop the onion very very finely and then start the recipe off by frying it until it's lightly gold and soft. Would be good to add some water to it too to help soften it down because *ideally* we want it to break down completely so there's no pieces of onion in the sauce. Once the onions are golden and very soft, I'd continue with the recipe as it's written.
Fozia
Thank you so much for this recipe. Me and my husband are pakistani and I always have so much anxiety when cooking something new for him as he is really fussy with food and won't eat something he doesn't like. I made lamb for the first time using your recipe and he loved it so much he wanted seconds which never happens! Such an easy recipe too. Will try your other recipes. Jazakallah kheir
Ahmed
Slayyyyy it was so good 😊
Fatima
Thrilled you liked it!
David
I just made this for my partner's family over in Spain and it was absolutely amazing. I had to substitute the exact spices for what I could find in the local market (which contained ground cumin and corriander anyway) and used half the amount of crushed chilli as they are not used to much spice in this town, but it still tasted spot on.
I wasn't sure when to add the salt, so I did this at the tomato stage.
Thank you for sharing your recipe and method 😀
Fatima
Thrilled to hear that, David! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Adeel Ali
I made this last night for my family, adjusted ingredients accordingly for 1.6kg Lamb. It came out awesome! Can't wait to try other recipes.
Fatima
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Hope you enjoy more recipes from my blog!
Sarah
Love making this dish. It’s super tasty and tastes so authentic. Do you think we could add the tomatoes in a chopper/blender? I know it would make the mixture more watery but assuming we can dry up - just takes me so long to chop up all those tomatoes! X
Fatima
Hi Sarah! Yes, you can do - I haven't tried it myself but I can see no reason why it wouldn't work x
Fatima
Also, thank you!
Chef nabeel
@Sarah, pulse it in the food processor
Louise
This was one of the most delicious lamb curries I’ve ever made! I was a doubter at first as I thought the lamb would be tough having previously cooked lamb only in the oven…..how wrong was I! Completely stunning results and so easy.
Fatima
Thank you so much, Louise! I'm so so happy to hear that!
jack
Delicious, tried many karahi recipes but this one has the edge, super high heat when you add the tomatoes works really well to dry the karahi out. thanks for the recipe 🙂
Fatima
Thank you so much, Jack!
Iqra
Asalamalaikum. Thank you for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it. Is this the same as a dish I remember from my childhood that was called something like “chompey” or “champey”
Fatima
Wasalam. I hope you enjoy it! <3
Anita
I disliked mutton in my childhood, hence I not used to buy it. Once I received mutton at Eid Al Adha from my friend and I did not wanted to waste it. I thought too look for a spiced recipe, so to cover up mutton flavour. This recipe was so good, I am buying mutton purposefully for it. I tried it with the lamb too, but the mutton comes out as a definate winner! It is worth the cooking time! 5 stars for the recipe
Fatima
Thank you so so much, Anita. That is so good to hear, honestly. I am so glad you like the mutton karahi. Mutton is definitely a winner over lamb, always!!
Emad
Incredible recipe. Fatima saving lives over here ☺️
Fatima
Glad to be of service to my people! 😉
Arun
Hi,
I have a very dear Pakistani friend from the 3 years I spent in the UK. He used to love cooking, made all these amazing Pakistani meat dishes. To be honest, I was almost a vegetarian before I began sharing an apartment with him. I first tried this dish many years back when he made it and now back home in delhi I followed your recipe and recreated it. Absolutely amazing. Came out really well. I don't have instagram if not I would have posted a photo. Lots of love from India.
Fatima
Hi Arun! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for sharing, I really appreciate it!
Sana
Can i just say WOOW!? First time making lamb karahi...and it tastes suuper delicious and like an authentic karahi straight out of Pakistan!!
I kinda cant believe I made this! Thanks for the recipe!!
Fatima
Thank you so much, Sana!
Ruby
I am going to try it soon. Thank you!
Fatima Khan
Such an amazing recipe! Made it so many times in the last few months. This is one of those beauties that gets compliments like 'Are you sure you made it yourself and haven't ordered it from somewhere?' 😀 Thank you for such accurate measurements and detailed recipes! <3
Fatima
Thank YOU for your kind words! So glad it's been popular with you!
Larry
Oh my! I made this this evening and my wife and I are ecstatic (and our mouths are in rapture.) I thank you so much for your recipes and invoke the blessings of (your) God on those who guided you.
Fatima
Thank you so much!
Muhammad Kashif Shabbir
Thank you for the traditional recipe.
Can you please fix the images on the post.
Fatima
Whats wrong with the images?
Hamid
I'm from Iran, I made this, it was as same taste as the Karahi I ate in Isalamabad, great recipe and thank you 😊🌹
Fatima
Thank you SO much!
Fatima Riaz
Absolutely AMAAAZING recipe !!
Started with your chicken karhai one , lead me to the lamb karhai and both were really tasty.
I love how you consider so thoughtfully about food , write about it, start the recipe, and give absolutely amazing tips about it!!
Till now I have been making the mistake of putting lid on chicken karhai and your "guna he kabeera" olfor covering with lids was spot on! I followed your tips and steps to a T and it absolutely turned out amazing!!
THANKS!! 🥰
Keep up the love of food and logical thinking!
Fatima
Thank you so much!!!
Nazmun
I didn’t season my mutton before I started frying it. You need to season it beforehand other wise the meat will taste a tad bland. Nice and easy recipe though thanks
Robin
I was really impressed by how easy and delicious this recipe is. Lamb karahi is one of my favourite things to order in restaurants and I didn't think I'd be able to do it justice myself, but this recipe worked so well!
Fatima
Thank you!
Mohammad khan
I like to open a new restaurant in uk Manchester
I just want really nature of desire food I mean really punjabi what can I do give to customer to best flaver
Saqib
Yummy and Delicious. Thanks for sharing
Andrew Christie
Hi Fatima
If I use say 1kg of mutton do I double the ingredients or what would you recommend?
Many thanks
Andrew
Fatima
Yes, definitely!
johon
awesome recipes i just love it .
Saara
Amazing 💜 ma shaa Allah. Alhamdulillah. Jazak Allahu khairan for this recipe. In shaa Allah I'll be following your recipe for chicken karahi next. I can't remember where I got the last recipe I used from but it was a disaster lol
Zuhra
Salam Fatima,
Thanks so much. I want to try this. Any idea of how to adapt this for goat meat? Thanks!
Swati
Tried your recipe today and it was amazing! Couldn't believe how even without onions or garam masala, the dish was so flavorful. Only difference was I was running out of time and had to pressure cook the meat instead of slow cook. Will try that next time. Thank you for the amazing stories and recipe
Fatima
So glad to hear that!! <3
Sameera
So I make goat maybe like twice a year. I decided to use my Qurbani meat I recurved from my mom and made this for a party with my family and everyone raved about how delicious it was!!! Thank you for another hit recipe
Fatima
Yay, so glad to hear! Thank you!
Chuck
I made this last night for dinner, and it was amazing. I had used a different recipe before and it lacked the depth and intensity of yours. Thanks for sharing.
Irtaza
Heyy Fatima. Going to try and make this today with qurbani meat, would the cooking time be longer for that as ive noticed qurbani meat is often tougher?
Bridget Morgan
I was looking for a mutton curry recipeFollowed your recipe step by step. Fair bit of cooking time for the mutton but WOW! Worth it! I will be using your Karachi recipe for lamb and chicken too. Waiting for my sons feedback 😉. It’s 5 stars from me. I took photos but sadly can’t add them to my comment.
Fatima
That's absolutely awesome to hear, Bridget. Glad you enjoyed it!
Sabina
Thank you so much for this recipe!! My whole family loved it and my husband literally wiped the serving bowl clean with a piece of naan! I've made different karahis in the past and my husband always said that they weren't quite right, this one is spot on 👌
Fatima
Amazing to hear, Sabina! Glad you all enjoyed it
Sumayah
Hi Fatima. I tried this recipe today and it looks a bit darker than yours. Waiting until Iftaar to try it 😊 but I was wondering, the onion seeds, is that the black seed? I put 1tsp of those in.
Thanks.
Fatima
The darkness could be because of the kind of tomatoes or the colour of the spices! And yes, the onion seeds are black seeds
nauman
very nice content
Fatima
Thanks
Joe P
I made this today and it was amazing. My house still smells great! I used your ingredients, but after watching a couple of Peshawari chefs on YouTube I used their method for cooking. Super high heat and lots of stirring. Much quicker!
Fatima
That's great! Glad to hear you adapted it to suit your preference 🙂 Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
Amber
My only question is where have you been my whole life 😅 been married to Pakistani for years and always have struggled with cooking Pakistani food. Have tried 3 recipes from your page and two were totally perfect while one was also very good. This will be my main page for cooking inspiration and guidance form now on. Thank you x
Fatima
That's so great to hear, Amber! Glad to be of help! You can also follow me on Instagram if you're on there - I'm @fatima.cooks and I'm quite active usually (aside from right now - I'm on a Ramadan break).
Adnaan
So far I’ve made Dal Murgh and Lamb Karahi from all your recipes. My family loved it and now they’re both going to be a family favourite. And we’re Bengali 😂
Fatima
Lol! That's awesome! PS I love Bengali food!
Adeel Ali
Salaam Fatima, if I am making a kilo lamb, do I just double all the ingredients up?
Fatima
Wasalaam. Yes