Karahi

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title: "Karahi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["indian-food-preparation-utensils", "pakistani-food-preparation-utensils", "cooking-vessels", "bangladeshi-food-preparation-utensils"] description: "Type of thick, circular, and deep pan" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karahi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Type of thick, circular, and deep pan ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/wok-and-karahi-2.jpg" caption="Western]]-style stove. Note that the flat-bottomed karahi (right) sits on an ordinary burner cover, while the round-bottomed wok balances in a wok-ring. Karahi often have round (loop-shaped) handles."] ::

A karahi is a type of thick, circular, and deep cooking pot, similar in shape to a wok, from the Indian subcontinent. It is used in Indian, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghan, and Caribbean cuisines. Traditionally press-formed from mild steel sheets or made of wrought iron, a karahi resembles a wok with steeper sides. Today, they can be made of stainless steel, copper, and nonstick surfaces, both round and flat-bottomed, or of traditional materials. The word karahi emanates from karah, a bigger version of karahi traditionally used in the subcontinent for boiling milk and producing thick cream.

History

Karahi or kadahi comes from the Prakrit word kataha, which is mentioned in texts like the Ramayana and Sushruta Samhita, and derives from Sanskrit kataha (meaning a frying pan, boiler, cauldron or saucepan). A karahi-like vessel is first mentioned in the Vedas as bharjanapatra.

Use

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Fried_eggs_(25056120628).jpg" caption="Egg being fried in a karahi"] ::

A karahi serves for the shallow or deep-frying of meat, potatoes, sweets, and snacks such as samosa and fish and also for Indian papadams, but is most noted for the simmering of stews,Promodini Varma, Dheeraj Paul Indian Menu Planner Introduction Roli Books Private Limited, 1995 , . 192 pages J. Inder Singh Kalra Prashad Cooking with Indian Masters page 28 which are often named karahi dishes after the utensil.

Karahi dishes

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Handi-and-karahi.jpg" caption="A small, decorative, copper-plated ''karahi'' (left) and'' [[handi]] ''(right) used to serve Indian food"] ::

Stews prepared in a karahi include chicken, beef, mutton, goat and lamb. Stews prepared with paneer or tofu are becoming increasingly popular amongst vegetarians.

An inverted *karahi *is used to cook rumali rotis.

Notes

References

References

1. (2009-09-25). "Kadhai". Indianfood.about.com.
2. "Full text of "Indian Food Tradition A Historical Companion Achaya K. T."".
3. (2022-01-07). "Authentic Karahi Gosht Recipe (Lamb or Mutton Karahi)".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::