Chicken Takatak (Tak-a-Tak or Taka-Tak) is a popular street food dish in Lahore, Pakistan. In this flavourful dish, chicken is prepared in a thick gravy with the addition of Lahori spice mix and served with lachcha paratha, naan, tandoori roti or roomali roti. The chicken has a thick, keema-like consistency which is achieved not from grinding the meat but from breaking it down into pieces while cooking.
This dish is generally cooked on roadside dhabas on big tawas. The savoury chicken dish is an indulgent treat, with lots of spices and oil. But do you know what exactly 'taka-tak' is in this dish? Let's find out! Where Does 'Taka-Tak' Come From? The nomenclature "Takatak" comes from the style of cooking chicken for this dish.
This dish is cooked with the use of a cooking spoon called tabeta or ulatni - a flat metallic spatula with a slight edge. This spoon is used continuously during the cooking of this dish to crumble the chicken. The sound while using this spoon is something like "tak tak tak taka tak".
This sound is what gives this dish the name - Chicken Takatak. Also Read: Lights, Cards, Action! How To Host The Best Diwali Card Party Unlike other dishes where the chicken might taste plain from the inside, in this dish the chicken is completely covered in the masala, thanks to the cooking technique. Cooking chicken on the tawa gives it a unique taste where the chicken is roasted with the masala all over.
Want to learn how to make this fantastic dish at home? Here is the re.