Halal-conscious recipe
Lamb karahi with Halal lamb
Sumayya Usmani's Karachi-style lamb karahi: Halal bone-in lamb cooked down with tomato, garlic and ginger, then fried with whole spices in ghee and finished with coriander, mint, green chilli and ginger.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
The karahi is made with 600 g of bone-in lamb, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal.
Karahi is named after the wok-like pan it is cooked in. Here bone-in lamb is first cooked down in a dry pan with tomatoes, garlic and ginger until the liquid has almost gone, then fried with cumin, fennel and black pepper in ghee and oil and braised until tender. The source describes it as a Karachi-style curry and uses lamb on the bone for depth. The lamb is the only thing to check: it needs to come from a Halal butcher or a certified pack.
It follows Sumayya Usmani's lamb karahi for BBC Good Food, which serves two to four. The source says it is ready when the oil sits on top, but to check the meat is tender as well.
Finish it with coriander, mint, green chillies and ginger matchsticks, and serve with naans or basmati rice. For a chicken version on this site, see the chicken karahi recipe.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Lamb Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and meat without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the lamb from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
Safe substitutes
- Lamb of unknown slaughter → Halal bone-in lamb
Allergens
milk (ghee)
Ingredients
Lamb
- 600 g Halal bone-in lamb (shoulder or chops), in roughly 5 cm chunks through the bone
- 5 large tomatoes, chopped (4 now, 1 later)
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 20 g fresh ginger, grated
Tempering
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1–2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, ground (or ground coriander)
To finish
- handful coriander, finely chopped
- 10 mint leaves, chopped
- 1–3 green chillies, finely chopped
- thumb-sized piece ginger, in small matchsticks
- to serve naans or cooked basmati rice, to serve
Method
- Cook down the lamb. Put a dry lidded pan over a medium heat and cook the lamb with 4 of the chopped tomatoes, the crushed garlic and grated ginger for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes have broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl.
- Fry the whole spices. Return the empty pan to a medium heat and add the ghee and oil. When hot, add the cumin, fennel and peppercorns and fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the chopped ginger, garlic, turmeric and a large pinch of salt and cook for about 30 seconds, until the raw garlic smell has gone.
- Braise. Return the meat and fry for a minute more. Add the last tomato, the chilli powder and ground coriander and fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for about an hour, until the lamb is completely tender and the oil sits on top.
- Finish and serve. Top with the coriander, mint, green chillies and ginger matchsticks, and serve with naans or plain boiled basmati rice.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lamb karahi' by Sumayya Usmani (serves 2 to 4: 600 g bone-in lamb shoulder or chops in about 5 cm pieces through the bone, cooked in a dry lidded pan over a medium heat with 4 of 5 chopped large tomatoes, 4 crushed garlic cloves and 20 g grated ginger for 20 to 25 minutes until the tomatoes break down and most of the liquid has gone, then set aside; 2 tbsp ghee and 2 tbsp vegetable oil heated, 1 tsp each cumin seeds, fennel seeds and black peppercorns fried 1 minute, then 1 cm finely chopped ginger, 1 to 2 chopped garlic cloves, ¼ tsp turmeric and a large pinch of salt for about 30 seconds; the meat returned and fried a minute, the last tomato, 1 tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp ground coriander fried a couple of minutes; covered on medium-low about 1 hour until the lamb is completely tender and the oil sits on top; topped with a handful of chopped coriander, 10 chopped mint leaves, 1 to 3 chopped green chillies and ginger matchsticks; served with naans or boiled basmati rice). The source describes it as a Karachi-style curry. We specified Halal lamb; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Lamb karahi — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Sumayya Usmani, described as a Karachi-style curry. Serves 2 to 4, prep 20 minutes, cook 1 hour 30 minutes: bone-in lamb cooked down with tomato, garlic and ginger, then fried with cumin, fennel and peppercorns in ghee and oil, braised about an hour with tomato, chilli and coriander, and finished with herbs, chilli and ginger. We specified Halal lamb.
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Lamb analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What makes lamb Halal: the slaughter.