Name: Kat-a-kat (Stir-fried and steamed chicken livers and kidneys)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: Serves 2–4
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 4 cm/1½-inch cinnamon stick; ¼ tsp ground turmeric; ¼ tsp ground mace; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp dried methi (fenugreek) leaves; ½ tsp green aniseed; 1½ tsp red chilli powder; 3 small tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (or 6 chicken wings); 2 onions, roughly chopped; a bunch of coriander (cilantro), chopped; 5 chicken kidneys; 2 tsp grated ginger; ¾ tsp salt, or to taste; ½ tsp crushed garlic; 2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter; 5 chicken livers; 1 tbsp coriander (cilantro) seeds; 2.5 cm/1-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into julienne; juice of ½ lemon; 4 green chillies, chopped

Preparation info

Serves
2–4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
35 min

Appears in

Summers Under the Tamarind Tree

By Sumayya Usmani

Published 2016

About

The streets of Karachi come alive at night with the aroma of barbecues and sounds of chatter, cars and cooking. One particular combination of smell and sound is ‘kat-a-kat’. The dish is made on a large flat pan over a huge gas fire, and its ingredients are added alongside splashes of water and butter so that plumes of steam rise and its fragrance fills the air. The meat is then cut using two metal knives and bashed about on the pan creating the iconic ‘kat-a-kat’ sound.