An environmentally benign, facile and efficient synthesis of a series of 4,6-diaryl-2,3,3a,4-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazoles was achieved in water with good yield by the reaction of diastereomerically pure 2-(3-oxo-1,3-diarylpropyl)-1-cyclohexanones with phenylhydrazine hydrochloride under microwave irradiation. The transformation presumably proceeds via a domino Fischer indole reaction–intramolecular cyclisation sequence.