Name me one thing that doesn't taste better with a few dollops of cream, a knob or so of butter, a splash of milk, a lashing of ghee.
I'll bet you're having a hard time thinking up something.
It's no secret these things all enhance the awesome-factor of pretty much anything you're cooking - and curries are no exception to this.
Take this Malai Boneless Chicken Karahi, for example. I've taken the traditional Chicken Karahi dish and made it the way we all love, with the very flavours we all adore and then finished it up with a hearty amount of double cream. What does this do? This fills every bite with the very same flavours we desire, along with a moreish, rich bite to it. Every bite tastes like a creamy dream, I tell you.
To pair with the creamy, tomato based sauce, instead of using bone-in chicken or pieces of chicken breast, I used boneless chunks of chicken thigh. Chicken thigh is fattier, juicer and much more tender than chicken breast - I'm actually not a fan of chicken breast at all due to how tough and rubbery it is. Chicken thigh releases its juices during the cooking process, which leads to a deeply, beautifully flavoured curry which literally melts in your mouth - something chicken breast can't really do even with extended marination times and slow cooking.
My final words before I give you the recipe - my Father is an expert at Karahis and he always tells me what with chicken Karahis, you must work fast. Have all the ingredients chopped up beforehand if you can, and cook the entire thing on high heat. Stirring constantly is imperative, otherwise you risk burning the curry or having it catch to the pan. Skimp on half the oil if you must, but I wouldn't recommend it as a Karahi dish isn't truly a Karahi dish without its oil.
Enjoy, with lots of naan and love x
PS: Double cream is known as heavy whipping cream in the US and Canada, and thickened cream in Australia.
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (185 ml) oil
- 2 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2.5 lb (1 kg) boneless chicken chunks preferably thigh
- 3.5 lb (12) medium tomatoes chopped
- ¾ cup (185 ml) double cream
- 3 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2.5 teaspoon red chilli powder or to taste
- 3 teaspoon cumin powder
- 3 teaspoon coriander powder
- 0.5 teaspoon turmeric
- 5 pods green cardamom
- Coriander for garnish
- green chilli for garnish
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a pan. Add the minced garlic and ginger and sauté for 1-2 minutes on high, till they are golden.
- Add the chicken pieces and cardamom pods. Continue to sauté this on high heat till the chicken is no longer pink and is lightly browning, about 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and all the spices. Continue to stir on high heat. The tomatoes will release a lot of their moisture, but you must continue to stir..
- Continue to sauté till all the moisture has dried out and the tomatoes cling to the chunks of chicken, as shown below.
- At this point, add the double cream. Once again, sauté this till it dries down till how it looked like in step 4.
- Garnish with coriander, green chilli, long strips of ginger and a drizzle of cream.
Notes
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Saima
New to your page but I’ve tried two dishes so far and this is one of them. It’s so good! I consider myself new to cooking and have a baby I’m always worried what to make him and your recipe are hassle free! And I love the emails so I don’t have to spend time searching what to make!
Fatima Cooks
Hi Saima, thank you so much for your comment! I'm so thrilled to hear I've been of help! ❤️
Yasmeen
This recipe is my favorite !!! Ive made this for my family for years !! And funny thing is , no matter how many times I've made it - I still can't remember the exact recipe so I always have to keep referring back to this site !! hehe
However , now I can't see the pictures . Have they been removed ? Also for some odd reason , I remember the recipe being with just 4 TBS of the heavy cream . But then I might be mixing it up with another recipe .
Shakeela Sadiq
I tried the channa dhaal and chicken which tasted beautiful ما شاء الله. Only mistake i made was i fried my onions too much. I made the malai chicken today it is chef kiss. Only issue i have is i cant see the video or pictures if you have uploaded them.
Fatima Cooks
Hi Shakeela! Thank you so much, I'm so happy you're enjoying my recipes! That's very strange, I'll have a look on my end to see why that may be. Thanks for flagging!
Joseph G
This ended up being delicious despite a couple changes (1/2 cup oil, no ginger strips at the end). Even at a very high heat, it took almost an hour for the tomatoes to release all their moisture and dry out - so would-be weeknight cooks, be very wary of that! It's worth it though. The flavor is unreal. Fatima's blog is the best thing to happen to my taste buds in a long time.
Fatima Cooks
Thank you so much, Joseph! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. And thank you for sharing your adjustments and experience, I'm sure it will help others! Hope you continue to try out more recipes from here ☺️
Joseph G.
What type of oil do you use in this recipe? I can't imagine ghee would exactly be a good substitute, and I yet to find a "neutral" cooking oil I really enjoy (safflower, canola, palm, and generic 'vegetable' don't sit right with me)
Fatima Cooks
Hi Joseph. I find sunflower oil had a neutral taste and doesn't have that uneasy feel vegetable oil gives.
Sarah Malik
I love your recipes, your level of spices matches mine. Following your recipes has made cooking tolerable for me.. I don't really enjoy cooking.
Quick question regarding the double cream: what could we substitute it with for a lactose-intolerant friendly version?
Fatima
Thank you!
And good question! I would think coconut milk would be the dairy-free go-to, although I can't vouch for it as I haven't tried it