Mutton Karahi Pashtun

Mutton karahi is one of the most popular dishes across Pakistan, but the Pashtun version from KP province differs from the Punjabi: it is drier, spicier, and uses black pepper as the primary spice rather than the Punjabi reliance on cumin and coriander. The dish is named after the karahi, a deep, round-bottomed wok in which it is cooked. The mutton is stir-fried in ghee or oil with ginger-garlic paste, then tomatoes are added and cooked down until they form a thick paste coating the meat. Black pepper, green chilies and salt are the main seasonings, with a minimal amount of garam masala. The result is a dry, intensely flavoured meat dish where the sauce clings to the pieces rather than pooling at the bottom. Eaten with naan from the karahi itself, placed in the centre of the table.

Dry, intensely spiced mutton in a thick tomato-and-black-pepper coating, the heat building with each bite, the meat tender from the fast braise. Eaten with naan torn and used to scoop from the karahi.

The technique is a fast, high-heat braise in a karahi. The mutton is cut into small pieces (bone-in for flavour). Oil or ghee is heated in the karahi, ginger-garlic paste fried briefly, then the mutton added and stir-fried over high heat until browned. Tomatoes are added (about 4 to 5 medium, chopped) and cooked down with the lid off until they break into a thick paste and the oil separates. Black pepper (generous, about 1 tablespoon), green chilies and salt are added toward the end. The dish is cooked uncovered throughout, the high heat and the open pan evaporating the liquid, producing the characteristic dry coating rather than a gravy. Total cooking time is 30 to 40 minutes, much shorter than a slow-braised curry.