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Qorma, salan & curries

Chicken Shorba Recipe

چکن شوربہ بنانے کا طریقہ

Light, homely chicken shorba with potatoes in a thin cumin-scented gravy: the salan Pakistani mothers make when someone has a cold.
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Illustration of Chicken Shorba

Prep

15 min

Cook

40 min

Total

55 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Chicken shorba is everyday home food rather than dawat food: chicken on the bone and potatoes in a thin, peppery gravy that you eat with rice or tear roti into. It uses less oil and fewer spices than a karahi or qorma, so the chicken and its broth do most of the work. Cooking the masala properly before adding water is still what makes it taste good.

Ingredients

4 servings

For 4 servings

Measures

To finish

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pot on medium heat. Add the cumin and bay leaf and let them sizzle for a few seconds, then add the onions and fry until golden.

    ⏱ 8 min

  2. Add the chicken and ginger-garlic paste and fry on high heat until the chicken turns white all over.

    ⏱ 5 min

  3. Add the tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric. Bhuno on medium heat, adding a splash of water if it sticks, until the tomatoes melt and oil shows at the edges.

    ⏱ 8 min

  4. Add the potatoes and stir them through the masala for a minute so they pick up colour.

    ⏱ 1 min

  5. Pour in the hot water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat until the potatoes are soft and the chicken is cooked through.

    ⏱ 20 min

  6. Stir in the black pepper and garam masala, simmer for 2 more minutes, then scatter the coriander and serve.

    ⏱ 2 min

Tips for the best result

  • Bony pieces such as the back and neck make the best broth. Add a couple if you have them.
  • For someone who is unwell, halve the chilli and add a thumb of crushed ginger with the water.

Common mistakes

  • Boiling it hard after the water goes in. A rolling boil makes the chicken stringy and the broth cloudy; keep it at a gentle simmer.
  • Skipping the bhunai to save time. Without it the shorba tastes like boiled chicken with spices floating in it.

How to serve

Serve hot with plain rice or roti, with lemon wedges and a little kachumar on the side.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 2 days in the fridge. Reheat until it bubbles. Freezing is fine for 2 weeks, but the potatoes soften.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
675kcal
Protein
38g
Fat
47g
Carbs
26g
Fibre
4.4g
Sodium
1020mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 150

Whole dish ≈ Rs 610 · 98% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Chicken Shorba: questions people ask

How do I make chicken shorba thicker?

Mash one or two potato pieces into the gravy, or simmer uncovered for 5 minutes at the end. Shorba is meant to be thin, so stop when it lightly coats a spoon.

Can I make it with boneless chicken?

You can, but the broth will be thinner in flavour. Cut the simmering time to about 12 minutes so the boneless pieces do not dry out.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

All salan and qorma recipes

Read this recipe in Urdu: چکن شوربہ بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/chicken-shorba · Handi, DanixSoft