isithalal.food · Recipes

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.

Pakistani · Main · Moderate · 2–4 portions · 110 min

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.

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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.

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.

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Finish and serve. Top with the coriander, mint, green chillies and ginger matchsticks, and serve with naans or plain boiled basmati rice.

Allergens

milk (ghee)

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.

Photograph of chicken karahi from Wikimedia Commons, not the finished dish from this recipe.