Name: Lamb karhai with fennel and coriander
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: Serves 4–5
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: ¼ tsp ground turmeric; salt, to taste; 1–2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1 tsp each of dried red chilli and coriander (cilantro) seeds ground together; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 5 tomatoes, chopped (reserve 1 tomato for later); 600 g/1¼ lb boneless lamb or mutton pieces; 1 tbsp ghee; ½ tsp ginger paste; ½ tsp garlic paste; 1 cm/½-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped; handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped; 1–3 green chillies, finely chopped; 10 mint leaves, chopped; 1–2 medium onions, chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4–5

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 5

Appears in

Summers Under the Tamarind Tree

By Sumayya Usmani

Published 2016

About

This ‘karhai’ (a wok-like pan) dish is a staple on the weekday dining table. It’s a quick and easy recipe, compared to many of Pakistan’s slow-cooked meat dishes, and is essentially a one-pot meal which requires very little fuss. As with a stir fry, you need to stand by your dish while all the spices infuse and cook with the meat, and then finish off with a bit of dum (steam) cooking.