IQBAL: We're making a charga.

Charga is a street food from Lahore, Pakistan.

SETH: Charga... IQBAL: Which is a steamed and flash-fried chicken.

What I did is... Then we slit the chicken.

That helps to absorb all the spices.

We do a 40-minute process, steaming that chicken to hold all the juices in.

SETH: All right, so this chicken has been steamed and now it's time to add all the flavors.

IQBAL: We're going to do all the flavors.

I'm going to pour a homemade yogurt right here.

SETH: Homemade yogurt.

IQBAL: A homemade yogurt.

And now here we're going to start from the salt.

We got a black pepper.

Doing a ginger garlic paste, which is a home-grind ginger garlic paste.

Lemon juice.

Okay, here we go.

We got the turmeric right here.

Now we're going to do a cumin powder, which is a home-grind cumin powder.

SETH: You're a man who loves his spices.

IQBAL: Absolutely.

The Pakistani food is full of different spices.

We got the chili powder.

Adding a turmeric and a chili powder gives you the charga color.

Here, we got a coriander powder.

Finally, we're going to add our secret spice, which is a Pakistani allspice.

SETH: You saved the secret ingredient for last.

IQBAL: That's the rule is.

It has seven whole different spices.

We grind at home.

SETH: Grind it at home to keep prying eyes away from the kitchen?

IQBAL: Absolutely.

SETH: Keep your secret carefully gardened.

IQBAL: That's the reason why we're doing it right now.

We're going to mix all the spices together right here with the homemade yogurt.

SETH: This is a dish that you would find everywhere in Lahore?

IQBAL: Everywhere, any street you'll find charga.

They don't serve in a plate.

SETH: They just hand it to you?

IQBAL: They hand it to you in a day before newspaper.

That's the rule is.

SETH: Hand it to you so you can just start eating.

IQBAL: Absolutely.

Now here you go.

We're going to work on our whole steamed chicken.

I'm going to split the chicken into four quarters now.

And this chicken goes into our marinade we just made.

SETH: It might be the homemade yogurt, but that marinade is sticking really nicely to that chicken right there.

IQBAL: You said it's sticking right now.

Just wait till it comes out after 24 hours.

The chicken absorbs all the spices, it goes inside the chicken.

Now we're going to go ahead and set the chicken for 24 hours, but this is how it comes out, the finished product.

SETH: Oh yeah.

It has coated it so nicely and just completely transformed the look of that chicken.

IQBAL: Okay, Seth, the final step of the process is we're just going to drop it in the fryer for 40 seconds.

(sizzle) The reason we're doing a flash fry is cook the spice and get that crisp outside.

When it's ready to serve, we garnish with the sliced red onion and chopped cilantro.

We got to top it with our house chaat masala.

And you'll be ready to eat.

That's the charga.

SETH: All right, D, Asad.

There is an explosion of colors and aromas coming off this plate.

I cannot wait to try the rice and the chickpeas, but I'm going straight for that charga.

IQBAL: Please.

SETH: Mmmm.

IQBAL: How do you like it?

SETH: Oh man.

That is fire right there.

Those flavors have absorbed all the way through.

Nice and bold spices.

And that flash fry, you know I don't think I've ever had fried chicken without the skin on before.

That's usually my favorite part.

But the outside does get so nice and crisp while the meat is still so nice and juicy on the inside.

And I'm guessing with all this naan and chickpeas and rice, is there a good way to go about trying to get all these flavors together in one bite?

ASAD: Honestly, you should try taking a piece of the naan off and take a piece of chicken and put some chutney on top of it.

SETH: All right.

Get a little bit of a raw onion in there, too.

What's this chutney right here?

ASAD: It's a mint chutney.

It goes really well with the chicken in it.

SETH: Yeah.

The red onion hits you a little bit, but then the mint chutney cools it right back down.

ASAD: Definitely.

SETH: This is just good street food eating right here at Charga.

IQBAL: It is.

SETH: And these chickpeas are just calling my name.

IQBAL: Absolutely.

How I do my chickpeas is I soak overnight, and then I cook through, it gets tender.

Then my own spice.

SETH: Well, if you could have flavor for days, but the texture, just how they melt in your mouth too.

And it looks like we're just celebrating chicken in all forms here.

What's happening on this platter here?

ASAD: So first is the one you tried.

This is a charga.

Right next to it, it's a rotisserie chicken.

It's from Baluchistan part of Pakistan.

And then right over there, the leg and thigh is an Indian-style chicken tandoori.

And right next to that is our peri-peri chicken, which is made for spice lovers.

SETH: You a spice lover, chef?

IQBAL: I am a spice lover.

That's on my level, though.

SETH: And we're talking peri-peri, so we're going to a whole other hemisphere right here.

ASAD: Oh yeah.

SETH: Is all the heat in the sauce right on top?

IQBAL: All in sauce.

Don't take a big bite, though.

ASAD: I would be careful.

IQBAL: Take a small bite.

SETH: This happens all the time.

A chef warns me to take a small bite, and then I take way too much.

IQBAL: You got to take a small bite.

SETH: I like spice, but that is intense.

ASAD: You definitely wash it down with the mango lassi.

It'll calm it down a little bit.

SETH: All right.

Mango lassi to the rescue.