Chicken Shashlik
چکن شاشلک
Chicken shashlik is a favourite of Pakistan's desi-Chinese restaurants and wedding menus: tender cubes of chicken with big, crunchy pieces of capsicum, onion and tomato in a tangy red sauce. Restaurants sometimes thread it on skewers, but at home it is cooked quickly in a . The trick is to fry the chicken first, keep the vegetables crisp, and thicken the sauce just enough to coat everything.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr
- Prep: 40 min
- Cook: 20 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
In a bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger and garlic paste, 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce and vinegar, the black pepper, chili powder, salt and 1 tablespoon of cornflour. Cover and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
For the sauce, stir together the ketchup, chili garlic sauce, the rest of the soy sauce and vinegar, the sugar and the water. In a separate cup, mix the remaining tablespoon of cornflour with 3 tablespoons of cold water.
Heat the oil in a over high heat. Add the chicken in one layer and stir-fry for 5–6 minutes, until golden at the edges and cooked through. Lift it out onto a plate.
In the same karahi, stir-fry the onion and capsicum on high heat for 1–2 minutes, just until they turn glossy and bright. They should still be crunchy.
Pour in the sauce mixture and bring it to a boil. Stir the cornflour slurry again, pour it in and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until the sauce turns thick and glossy.
Return the chicken, add the tomato squares and toss for 1 minute, until everything is coated and the tomatoes are just warmed through.
Serve immediately with egg fried rice or plain boiled rice.
Kitchen notes
Don't overcook the vegetables. Shashlik is meant to have crunchy capsicum and onion; they keep softening in the hot sauce after the heat is off.
The cornflour in the marinade keeps the chicken soft and helps the sauce cling. Don't skip it.
Taste the sauce before thickening. Add a little more vinegar for tang or a pinch more sugar if your ketchup is very sharp.
A desi-Chinese classic
Shashlik takes its name from the skewered meat of Central Asia, but the dish Pakistanis know is something else: a product of the desi-Chinese cooking that grew up in Karachi and Lahore restaurants. Alongside chicken manchurian and chilli chicken, it became a fixture of family restaurant outings, wedding buffets and dinner parties at home. It is less spicy than most Pakistani dishes and loved by children, which helps explain why it is so popular.
The method
The dish comes together in minutes, so have everything ready before the karahi heats up. There are three parts.
The chicken is marinated with soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and a little cornflour. The cornflour forms a light coating that keeps the meat tender when it is stir-fried on high heat, and it helps the sauce stick later.
The vegetables are cut into large, even squares so they look neat and stay crunchy. They need only a minute or two in the hot oil, just long enough to turn glossy.
The sauce is a tangy mix of ketchup, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and a little sugar, thickened with a cornflour slurry until it coats the back of a spoon. Add the slurry only once the sauce is boiling, or it will turn lumpy.
Variations
- Skewered shashlik: thread the chicken and vegetables on skewers, cook them on a tawa and pour the sauce over.
- Spicier: add a teaspoon of red chili flakes or a few sliced green chilies with the vegetables.
- Beef shashlik: use thinly sliced beef undercut, marinated the same way.
Storing
Shashlik is best eaten fresh, while the vegetables are crisp. Leftovers keep for 2 days in the fridge; reheat briefly in a pan with a splash of water.
Questions people ask
Can I make it on skewers?
Yes. Thread the marinated chicken, onion and capsicum on skewers, fry them on a tawa with a little oil for 8–10 minutes, turning, then pour the thickened sauce over the skewers to serve.
Can I use chicken thigh?
Yes. Boneless thigh stays juicier and is harder to overcook. Fry it for 6–7 minutes instead of 5–6.
What do you serve with shashlik?
Egg fried rice is the classic pairing in Pakistan. It also goes well with plain rice, or with chicken corn soup as a starter for a desi-Chinese meal.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 300
- Protein
- 30 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 19 g
