If you are a desi or… love the spicy Pakistani/Indian food, I assure you, this Lahori Chargha recipe is made for you.
Chargha means Chicken in Pushto and Lahori chargha originates from the city of Lahore in Pakistan. Its made with whole chicken with skin removed and deep cuts added, marinated in some very aromatic spices. And then steamed plus fried to cook. You sprinkle lots of chat masala and lemon on top of it, dip it in some mint chutney and smack your lips with every bite.
This has been one my faaaaaavourite chicken recipes to make for dawats (get togethers) and seeing that we live here in Jeddah, I haven’t even found a place which serves authentic Lahori Chargha so I end up always making it at home. But honestly, its so basic, I don’t mind really mind either.
You can of course change the method of final cooking to your liking (baking or airfrying) But the traditional way is to steam and fry. Also F.Y.I a good chargha is soooo hard to photograph, I can’t even begin to tell you. So please bare with the pictures that I could come up with.
How to make Pakistani Lahori Chargha step by step
Preparing the chicken
First things first. You gotta remove the skin of the chicken if it hasn’t been removed already. Second, wash it thoroughly and add deep horizontal cuts along its length and legs. To get rid of any chicken smell and blood, I like to treat my chicken with vinegar for 15 mins. And then I pat my chicken dry with a paper towel and get it ready to be marinated.
Marinating the Chargha
The quantities for the spice mix in this recipe are ideal for a chicken that weighs about 1 to 2 kg ( 3 to 4 lbs). If you are using a bigger bird, increase all the spices and salt by 2 pinches.
The marinade for this Lahori chargha is very basic, although you might need to ground some of your spices to create this marinade. It has salt, an egg, some lemon juice, yogurt, a little bit of food color, and a few ground Pakistani spices. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to form a smooth paste.
TIP: Wear gloves to rub the marinade on the chicken to avoid your fingers from staining with the red color.
Rub the Chargha spice mix thoroughly all over the chicken. Make sure you get all the deep cuts and edges etc. Be gentle and give your chicken the spa massage of its life! Also make sure to get the cavity as well.
Cover the chicken and leave it in the fridge to marinate.
Chicken, unlike beef or mutton is inherently tasteless. So in order for the marinade to work well, the longer you leave it, the better. I leave the chicken in the fridge to marinate overnight, but you can get away with 8 hours too.
Cooking the Pakistani Lahori Chargha
When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the fridge at least 30 mins before and bring it down to room temperature. Tie the legs of the chicken together with a string and use a toothpick or a BBQ stick to attach the wings of the chicken to its body.
Attaching the wings to the body of the chicken prevents the wings from overcooking and turning black while frying. The browning of the wings remains even and it doesn’t dry out either.
Lahori chargha is steamed first and then deep fried to finish cooking. But you can chose alternate methods to finish cooking. If you have an instant pot or a food ninja, you can easily steam your chicken on the rack on it. The method I’ve chose here is super basic so you can make this happen without any fancy appliances too!
Use a pot big enough to cover the chicken. Preferably, a thick bottomed pot, or if you only have regular pots, use a griddle or a tava below the pot to prevent direct heating from the stove. Cut 3 to 4 onions in halves or quarters and place them on the bottom of the pot with about 1/4 cup of oil.
Place the chargha on top of the onions and cover with a lid. Turn on the heat at full flame for about 5 mins and then reduce to medium low flame. Let the chicken cook for about 25 to 30 mins.
Important: If your chicken weighs more than 2 kg, increase your time for steaming by 10 mins for every additional kg (e.g. 40 mins of steaming for a 3 kg chicken)
Turn off the heat and remove the lid. Your steamed Lahori Chargha would look something like this.
Bonus: The onions at the bottom of the pan would have released considerable amounts of water and has also cooked in the awesome spices. I’ve only added onions, but you can also add other ingredients at the bottom that you enjoy with your chicken (like some garlic for flavor, potatoes or green chilies etc)
Handle the chicken very carefully now as it is going to be tender. Add oil to a pot with enough depth to cover half of the chicken. Use a strong grip tong to place your chicken in hot oil and fry on both sides for 6 mins each.
Dish the chicken out on a platter or on a bed of rice, and sprinkle some chat masala generously along with some lemon juice. Digggg in my friends!!
Alternates, Fixes and Remixes.
Cooking alternatives.
The steaming step remains constant in all cooking methods, but you can finish cooking by either baking or using an air fryer.
For baking – Coat the steamed chicken generously with a layer of ghee. Bake at 200 C for 20 mins max. in middle rack of the oven. Open the grill on top as well. 10 mins on one side and then switch.
Fixes
- If you’ve fried your chicken and it still turns out undercooked (although unlikely) Just steam it for another 15 mins at medium high heat.
- If your chicken feels underseasoned or the salt level seems low, pair with yogurt dip or rice and prepare them with a slightly high level of salt. Or you can also sprinkle some extra chat masala and salt on your chicken to compensate.
Variations
You can use the same method to cook smaller pieces of chicken. If you are using smaller chicken pieces or tikka cuts, you will only need to steam them for 15 mins max.
Smoke the chicken – If you like the flavor of smoked chicken, you can add a piece of coal to give it a nice charred flavor while steaming.
What to do with left overs?
- Use for pizza toppings
- Make pasta
- Use the chicken to make open sandwiches
- Use this chicken to create Chicken Fajita wraps
- Use as a topping for desi chicken Nachos
Easy Pakistani Lahori Chargha Recipe
Lahori Chargha
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken of about 1.5 to 2 kg with skin removed and cuts added.
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp of yogurt
- 1 tbsp of garlic ginger paste
- 1 tsp of turmeric powder
- 2 tsp of red chili powder
- 2 tsp of cumin powder
- 1 tsp of whole spice powder garam masala
- 3 tbsp of lemon
- 1 tsp chat masala
- 1 tsp green cardamom powder choti elaichi powder
- 2 tsp salt
- A pinch of nutmeg powder
- A pinch of red food color
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- 1. Skin a whole chicken and clean it. Add deep horizontal cuts along the chicken. Treat the chicken with 1/2 cup of vinegar and let it sit in the vinegar for 10 to 15 mins to get rid of all the smell.
- 2. Throw away the vinegar and use a paper towel to pat the chicken dry.
- 3. In a bowl, add all the ingredients for marinade and mix well.
- 4. Coat the marinade all over the chicken evenly making sure you get all the cuts and nooks.
- 5. Cover the chicken and let it sit in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- 6. Bring out the chicken and let it sit out for 30 mins before cooking. Tie the legs of the chicken together with a thread. And use toothpicks to pin the wings to the body.
- 7. In a deep pot, add about 1/4 cup of oil and 3 to 4 onions cut up in halves. Preferably place a griddle below the pot or use a heavy bottom pot.
- 8. Place your chicken on top of the onions. And cover the pot with a lid.
- 9. Steam the chicken at high heat for 5 mins and then at medium to low heat for another 25 mins. (increase the time by 10 mins if your chicken weighs more than 4 lbs or 1.5 kg)
- 10. Remove the chicken from the pot and deep fry it in hot oil for 6 mins on each side or until it looks crispy golden on each side. Make sure the oil level covers half of the chicken while you fry it.
- 11. Dish out on a plate and sprinkle some more chat masala and lemon juice on top of it generously. Serve with Mint chutney and pulav rice.
sajjad huaasin says
very nice
Wajiha says
Thankyou!
Henna says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I just roasted it and didn’t bother frying, and the spices were just fantastic!
Wajiha says
yayyyyy!!!!
Irem says
I would like to air fry it? Any suggestions so it does not dry out either?
Wajiha says
Hey there Irem! You can airfry it for sure. If you are steaming it first, you should be fine. Spray the chicken with oil after steaming and airfry only long enough for color since the chicken is already cooked through.
Muskanpakwaan says
You explained so well really satisfying
Wajiha says
Thankyou Love!
Fatima Khan says
Made this for iftaar for the family and it came out so goood!! Delicious and easyy!
Wajiha says
omg this is such a perfect iftar food right?
maryam islam says
can this be baked or roasted?
Wajiha says
ideally charghas are deep fried. But for health reasons, it can definitely be baked or roasted. I’d recommend baking it in the oven with a water bath underneath.
Aafreen says
steps for water bath?
Wajiha says
hey love! im sorry i dont understand the question? are there more details you’d like to know?
Will says
Absolutely a great delicious dish. A local restaurant offers chicken charga and we’ve had it numerous times. I wanted to try it myself and following your receipe I successfully marinated and cooked this. It was delicious and I am in the process of marinating another tonight. Thank you Very much.
Regards,
William
Wajiha says
Hello Will,
This is so good to hear! And the fact that your making it again already is just cherry on top of the cake! thank you for dropping by and pumping me up to write more!
Amir Burney says
Hello
Fantastic recipe and very well presented. Certainly will be trying this.
Regards
Dr Amir Burney
Wajiha says
Hello Dr Amir!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! your feedback means everything! 🙂
Asifa says
Tried this and the chicken turned out amazing! It was tender, juicy, and flavourful Thank you!
Wajiha says
wooohoo! 🙂 victoryyyyy
Jibreel Bin Hussain says
The easiest & tastiest recipe ever… The time i saw the recipe i was like yes i need to try this… living in US and craving for Authentic Desi food is always a challenge but with your recipes its so much easy for me to crave my self. 2 week and tried out 2 dishes and my kids and wife now want me to do a Lahori Turkey Charga on Thanks Giving ????Thank you for the recipe looking forward what i will be trying next week ☺️
Wajiha says
That is soo good to hear. A feeling of home away from home. That’s what food does 🙂
Kevin says
Made this tonight and it was awesome. Doubled the marinade because I had a largish chicken and used a temp probe to make sure I steamed it to 165F – it took a bit longer than listed and had to play with the fire a bit to get the right flame. Served with a home made naan (just do it – pan fried and fresh) a tomato/cucumber/onion salad and a spiced rice. Unbelievable dinner. Looked at a bunch of recipes and followed this because it made the most sense and the taste was perfect. My kid asked when we can have it again.
Wajiha says
Kevin Can’t thank you enough for such a detailed review of the recipe! It just made my day. A larger chicken would definitely need more marinade, good call on doubling the recipe there. LOts of love to your lil one and I hope you’ll make it again for your kid.
Nishant Grover says
Nice recipe! For the vinegar treatment in Step 1, do you soak the chicken in vinegar? or simply apply a spoon or two of vinegar to the chicken?
Wajiha says
I used roughly about 1/4th cup of vinegar. Enough quantity to coat the chicken. But no i didnt soak it.
Beenish Zahoor says
Heyyy I just tried this recipe and it turned our great ma Sha Allah… Everyone in my house loved it.. Even I was surprised that it turned out great because I just started cooking 2 months back… Thank you againnn
Beenish Zahoor says
Tried this today… Turned out amazing ma Sha Allah… Everyone loved it… Even I was surprised that I could make this because I just started cooking 2 months back… Thank you soo much for the recipe ❤️❤️❤️
Wajiha says
that is soooooo cool! iam so gladd you liked it! haha welcome to the world of cooking!
Anonymous says
Very good
Wajiha says
thankyou!
Suman says
Definitely gonnna try this one
Food Lifes says
very nice . looking testy
Wajiha says
Thankyou!