Lahori Charga

This whole chicken roast without the use of oven is an absolute must for a weekend dinner or a special holiday meal. I wanted to share this recipe last week as it’s what I made for Thanksgiving but accidentally deleted the photos from the camera. When I came back from vacation, luckily I found some pictures on my phone. We are a family of three, so we never roast a turkey. It’s too much food for us, and besides, I am not truly a turkey fan. .

Charga/Chargha is one of the famous chicken dishes from the city of Lahore in Pakistan. Charga means whole chicken in Pushto. It’s a language spoken in Afghanistan, some parts of Pakistan and Iran.

This recipe came to me by way of a very good friend a few years ago and I have been making this since then. It’s my go-to for casual nights and company. This recipe offers a new approach to creating crispy and flavorful chicken without the use of oven. It’s really easy and takes only a few hours to make.

Here’s how it’s done.

Generally, this recipe is made with a whole bird but you can use half or just pieces of chicken. My recipe calls for small whole chicken which is good enough for 4-5 servings. The chicken is first marinated for delicious flavor. The marinade is very simple and comprises of lemon juice and basic south Asian seasoning but of course, you can add more ingredients and spice it up as per your taste. I just prefer to keep it simple and not overwhelm it with tons of different flavors. You need to make deep incisions in the chicken so that marinade can penetrate and infuse flavor. Let the chicken marinade anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.  I marinated only for couple of hours and it was perfect. If you like to marinate for overnight, add some oil to avoid the meat from drying out.

When you are ready to cook your chicken you can steam in the oven (if your oven has this option) or create a steaming apparatus. You can use any pan/wok or pot that you can place strainer or a rack into. Add at least one inch of water to the pot, add bay leaf and black cardamom for flavor and bring to a full boil using high heat. Make sure no water is coming up through the holes in the strainer. Place the chicken on it (breast side up), covering with a high domed lid, and letting it steam for 30 minutes. Keep in mind that steaming times will vary depending on the size of the chicken. You’ll need to check on your water levels to make sure there is water there. If not, top it off. My tip for steaming a whole chicken is to make sure that you don’t overcook it. Once the chicken has been steamed, lift the chicken carefully with tongs and place it on a plate. Reserve the liquid for making chicken stock or use it for soup or cooking other dishes.

The next step is to crisp up the outer surface by frying. Instead of deep frying, it is done in a  wok with a pool of oil that only covers one-third of the bird and fried all over by turning. By steaming the chicken first, it gets cooked thoroughly and shortens the cooking time of frying. Once fried, the chicken is served sprinkled with chaat masala and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Allow your chicken to rest on a cutting board for at least 10 minutes before carving it. This will allow the juices in the bird to settle into the meat.

Serve alongside your favorite side dish. We ate with Persian jeweled rice (will soon post the recipe) and silky, smooth, spicy, green yogurt chutney. The taste was out of this world! Hope you enjoy! Well actually I know you will, so I hope you make it! And if you do, be sure to share your photo with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

I am bringing this lahori charga to cookblogshare @ EasyPeasyFoodie.