A Pakistani and North Indian dish named after the karahi, the wide wok-shaped pan it is cooked in. Bone-in chicken is cooked fast over high heat with fresh tomatoes, ginger, garlic, crushed whole spices and green chilies, with no onions and no added water, until the gravy is thick, red and glossy and the ghee separates. It is served in the pan with naan or roti.

Karahi has no onions, uses fresh tomatoes as the whole sauce, is cooked on high heat with coarsely crushed spices and has a thick gravy that clings to the chicken. Curry starts with cooked onions, uses ground spices and added liquid, simmers low and has a loose gravy. The comparison table above lays it out.

Yes. Karahi (Pakistani spelling) and kadai or kadhai (Indian spelling) are the same pan and the same family of dishes. Indian kadai chicken usually adds onion and bell pepper and uses a ground kadai masala; this recipe is the Pakistani restaurant style, which keeps it to tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chilies.

The masala was not cooked long enough. Tomatoes release a lot of liquid, and it has to cook away on high heat with the lid off until the ghee separates and the masala pulls from the pan. If it is still thin at the end, turn the heat up and stir 5 more minutes before the yogurt goes in.

Tel chorna: as the tomato masala finishes cooking, the ghee that was mixed into it pools at the edges and on top, and the masala looks glossy and slightly darker. It means the water has cooked off and the spices have bloomed. Every Pakistani curry waits for it, and karahi more than most.

Yes, with a change in order: cook the tomato masala fully first, then add boneless thigh pieces and cook 8 to 10 minutes on high until done. Added at the start, boneless chicken dries out during the long reduction. The boneless tab above has the full method; bone-in still tastes better.

In a pinch: a 28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained of most of the liquid and chopped, for a 2½-pound chicken. Cook the masala a few minutes longer and add a squeeze of lemon at the end for the fresh tang canned tomatoes lack. Fresh is better here than almost anywhere.

Medium as written: warm from the black pepper and red chili, aromatic from the slit green chilies, which perfume more than they burn. For mild, halve the red chili powder and use 3 green chilies; for hot, add chopped green chilies with the ginger-garlic paste and more red chili. The Kashmiri chili is for color and can stay.

Yes; use the same amount of a neutral oil. Ghee gives the restaurant aroma and a richer gravy, and most of it separates out and coats the dish rather than being eaten, but oil makes a very good karahi. Butter alone burns at karahi heat.

Yes. Yogurt rounds the gravy and makes it slightly creamy; without it the karahi is sharper and redder, which many people prefer. If you use it, whisk it smooth and stir it in fast over medium heat so it does not split.

Yes. Cook it through the covered simmer up to a day ahead, refrigerate, and reheat gently with a splash of water. Add the kasuri methi, garam masala, ginger and cilantro after reheating. Restaurants keep the tomato masala made and cook chicken into it to order; the storage table has that method.

Naan or roti first, since the gravy is for scooping, then plain basmati rice, sliced onion with lemon, a cucumber-tomato salad and cold yogurt or raita for the heat. The serving section above links the rest of a desi table.

A wok, a wide cast iron skillet or a large stainless sauté pan, anything wide with sloped sides so the tomatoes reduce fast. A deep, narrow pot steams the chicken instead of reducing the masala; if it is all you have, cook in two batches.

Yes on both: halal chicken, ghee, tomatoes, spices and yogurt, with no alcohol anywhere in the recipe or the variations, and nothing containing gluten. Check the ginger-garlic paste and garam masala labels if you buy them, and serve with rice or gluten-free flatbread if needed.