Karahi Corner

Occupying the old Royal Sweets location at the corner of Washtenaw and Devon Avenue, Karahi Corner is a small restaurant specializing in Pakistani-style karahi dishes (baby goat or chicken), cooked and served fresh in a cast-iron pans (karahi). There are some other dishes as well, but the focus is on the karahi.

And they do a really excellent job with it. The sauce is delicious, containing a generous amount of spice paste, with large pieces of ginger and abundant coriander leaves. Some may find the quantity of oil/ghee disagreeable, as it is swimming with the stuff, but I found it pleasantly fatty. The meat itself is tender, but it has many bones (including small fragments), and one must exercise caution while eating for this reason; this is common enough in Indo-Pakistani contexts, since they tend to order 'chop meat' from meat purveyors, leaving the bones in throughout preparation and leaving them in when serving. I think I would prefer an older goat, since they have a little more meat and a more robust flavor. Baby goat is more tender, though.

The advantage of cooking and serving it within the cast-iron karahi is the caramelized bits of onion and sauce that accumulate on the surface of the metal. The cooked-on bits of sauce are a great complement to rice or the freshly-prepared breads.

I do think the price is a little steep, though, especially for the area. A half-order of mutton karahi (baby goat in this context, but 'mutton' also often means lamb among South Asians) is $17.99, with a full order a full $27.99. This includes raita, slices of raw onions and hot peppers, and a lemon wedge on the side. Rice and bread (naan, paratha, chapati) are extra. After working through lunch, I had dinner there by myself, having worked up a manly appetite over the course of the day. I am a rather small man, and I handily devoured a half-order of mutton karahi, rice, and a single piece of naan. By the end of the meal, I was moderately sated. A couple, I think, would have to go with a full order.

Karahi Corner
2658 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659

tel. 773.516.4743

Sounds excellent! On my 'short list' now.
All the commercial goat I see for sale is already chopped and as you pointed out, one has to be very careful with the bone shards.
I'm going to see if Fresh Farms on Touhy can get me a whole 'baby goat' and cut it like they do for a baby lamb, from there it's not too much work to cut for the freezer with no shards.
-Richard

Yes Cyriaco, thanks for posting about this place. I too will have to check this out soon!

We had an excellent dinner for 4 at Karahi Corner last night. We had both Chicken and Mutton Karahi and naan on the side. There isn't a lot of difference between the two, but both were great. The Karahis are bursting with flavor. While there is plenty of gee, I couldn't stop sopping up the sauce with the naan. The meat, as Cyriaco, notes consists of little pieces of bone with meat on it. I rather enjoy "earning" my food, but those who are bone phobic would not. The owner (I assume the older man who did the cooking was the owner) was very accommodating, offering to adjust the spice levels. We asked for the normal spice level (I don't know if he adjusted it down based on who we were) and I found it perfect; a good bit of zing, but nothing challenging.

On just one I'd differ from Cyriaco. Our group of 4 was fine with 2 half orders and 4 slices of naan. We're pretty light eaters, but we even had a small bit of leftovers.

All in all, I don't see why lovers of Indo/Pak food wouldn't be racing here to try this unique dish.

Mutton Karahi, actually goat, is not particularly photogenic. What it lacks in Kodak moment quality is more than made up for in Lollobrigida lushness.

Spicy, rich, bits of bone, marrow, tendon, meaty nooks and crannies to slurp, suck and noodle with the tongue. Crisp lightly charred onion naan the perfect foil.

I'm in love, thanks for the heads up Cyriaco!

Mutton karahi, Karahi Corner


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