Charga /chargha (fried or roasted whole chicken)

The Charga /chargha is a popular street food in many Moroccan cities. The Charga /chargha is widely used in the preparation of many dishes, but the most common are the Khiar Charga /chargha (roasted all over), and Khiar Ksik (skewered).

“This is the chicken recipe that our family has been using for years”

Charga is the most important part of the chicken for us. So we ask the farmers to cook it the best for us. Also we want to make sure that we are giving the best quality to our customers. We have a specific technique that we try to follow in order to get the best taste and tenderness from our charga. This is what we are doing.

Charga/chargha is a popular dish in Lahore and Asian cuisine in general, particularly in Pakistan. I had it at a Lahore restaurant in London (UK). Charga refers to a whole chicken that has been marinated in spices, cooked, and then fried or deep fried in oil or ghee. Because of the marinade and the manner it is cooked, chargha tastes different in every home or restaurant. Curd (yoghurt), cumin powder, chili powder, vinegar, ginger and garlic paste are used in the marinade, but you may substitute your own spices. I added the ingredients to suit my own taste and level of spiciness. To make the cooking process easier, I chose medium-sized chicken and broad and big pots. Because deep frying is tough to manage, I fried the chicken instead. You may pick and prepare according to your taste in the photos I have given you with skin and without skin chicken roasting or frying on a grill and kadai. I served charga/chargha as an appetizer, but it can also be served with naan, salad, and dipping sauce, or made into a naan wrap or served with pulav, but it’s usually served with chips and salad with pickled green chilies, which is my favorite.

If the chicken splits or the parts fall apart while cooking the whole chicken, it’s OK; in the end, you may reassemble the pieces and serve. In any case, you must chop the pieces and consume them. When cooking a whole chicken, we have to be extremely careful when rotating it, otherwise it may break. Follow the steps to create delicious chargha at home.

I used the same technique in my previous whole chicken fry recipe, but this time used different spices and fried it on the grill or in a kadai/wok. You can eat chicken with or without the skin.

Ingredients

• • 700 gms to 750 gms whole chicken (slits on chicken)
  • Oil is used for frying.

Marinade

• • 4 tsp ginger and garlic paste
  • 2 tsp to 2 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • Season with salt to taste.
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • Orange color or Biryani (optional)
  • 1/2 cup thick curd
  • 2 tsp. oil
  • 2 tsp chat masala
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Spices that are roasted

• • 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 3 tsp black pepper seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 dried Kashmiri chilli

Garnishing

• Toss in some chat masala
• a couple lemon slices and salad leaves

Method

Marinade

• • Make a series of incisions in the chicken and set it aside.
  • Take a bowl or plate and add all of the ingredients one by one, mixing well until all of the spices are completely mixed.
  • Roast the remaining spices and roughly grind or smash them in a pestle mortar.

• • Add this roasting spice to the marinade as well. By tasting it, you may determine whether or not the salt is sufficient.

• • Then apply to the chicken’s whole body, including the insides. The chicken should be well and evenly rubbed. The marinade should be thick in order to marinate effectively. Refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight, covered. Remove it from the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 1/2 hour before cooking.

• • As you can see in the photo, the marinade has been well covered with the chicken; do not rub your hand over it again; you must cook the chicken immediately in the pot. Touching or combining the marinated chicken with your hands will disrupt it.

Charga is prepared in two stages.

a. Using the marinade to cook the chicken

c. Grilling or frying in a kadai

The cooking instructions may seem lengthy, but I have broken them down to make them easier to follow.

a. Using the marinade to cook the chicken

• • If you don’t have an oven at home, you may use this technique. To achieve that burnt color, just cook the chicken in a vessel without oil or water, then cook it on a larger and broader kadai or grill pan.
  • Take a larger or deeper pot (it will be easier to cook a whole chicken and flip it), add the entire chicken with the marinade, cover the lid, and cook on medium heat. If desired, a tsp of oil may be used to lubricate the pot. It is possible to open the cover and cook the chicken.

• • The primary goal is to boil the chicken and absorb all of the liquid, as well as to cook and dry the chicken marinade.
  • Check the chicken periodically to ensure it does not cling to the pan, then flip it over and cook the other side. To flip the chicken, use a tong and one large spoon, or two large spoons, as shown in the image. It will be simple to grasp and turn.

• • When you notice that all of the marinade liquid has been absorbed and the chicken is done, turn it off. Cook it over a low heat or over a low flame. Check it periodically to make sure it hasn’t burned or stuck to the vessel.
  • Open the cover and cook the chicken if the marinade liquid is still present. The marinade liquid will be rapidly absorbed, so don’t overcook it. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

• • I’ve also done the same thing with skinless chicken. The images are shown below.

c. Grilling or frying in a kadai

• • After the chicken has been cooked in a vessel, apply a charred effect to the chicken, such as a tandoori color or a barbecue effect.
  • 1 tbsp oil on a larger grill, so chicken can be cooked thoroughly and readily flipped. It should not be cooked over a very high heat.
  • When the oil is heated, gently place the chicken on the grill and fry it; when the chicken is done on one side and the color changes, flip the chicken over and fry it until it is well fried. Cook the chicken on both sides equally. If necessary, sprinkle some oil in between.

• • Because the chicken is already cooked, it will be fried shortly to get the desired tandoori or barbecue color.

• • I’ve also done the same thing with skinless chicken. The images are shown below.

• • Turn it with a tong while simultaneously holding the grill. Remove it and serve it with salad after it is roasted on both sides and has taken on a beautiful charred color. Sprinkle some chat masala and lemon juice on top, but it’s not necessary since the marinade is already there. As you can see in the photo, I just removed the two legs and fried the chicken again to make it blackened on the interior; if you want, you may do the same or simply ignore it. Serve with lemon slices and sliced onions. It has a great flavor, so give it a try.

Notes

• • After the first step, you may eat right away.
  • You may deep fry the chicken if you like, but be cautious since deep frying a full chicken is difficult.
  • Do not be alarmed by the lengthy procedure; we are just steaming the chicken first, then fried it on a grill or kadai to get the reddish charred color.
  • When cooking on a kadai or grill, the oil may spread all over, making it difficult to shut the lid and continue cooking. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Check the marinade before using it on the chicken to see whether it is hot or contains salt.
  • You may marinate it with your own seasonings. It should be thick when you add the curd. You may play around with the ingredients to suit your preferences.
  • If Kashmir chilli is not available, you may use any chilli powder or dried chilli.
  • It’s OK if the parts fall apart while cooking; in the end, you may assemble it like a whole chicken and serve it. The most important thing is to obtain the finest flavor.

• Because you’re simply dripping the oil to get that burnt color, I didn’t provide any oil measurements because it depends on your frying technique. Finally, for frying, you may use oil or butter.
• You may create a tortilla wrap or a salad with the leftover chicken pieces.
• You may also use chunks of chicken instead of the entire chicken and use the same charga masala.

 

Who doesn’t love fried chicken? Or, more simply, who doesn’t love fried chicken? Thanks to the world’s ever-evolving food trends, we now have fried chicken on a stick, fried chicken on a salad, fried chicken on a pizza, fried chicken on ice cream, fried chicken on a sub sandwich, fried chicken on a sandwich and even fried chicken on a popsicle. The possibilities of what to substitute fried chicken with are endless, but this is a story all about how one woman found the one thing she didn’t want to substitute.. Read more about chicken chargha recipe in urdu and let us know what you think.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you eat with Charga?

Charga is a type of bread that is used in many countries around the world. It can be eaten with cheese, butter, jam or honey.

What is Charga Pakistan?

Charga Pakistan is a Pakistani company that makes and sells electric vehicles.