Chicken & Rice with White Sauce - Halal Food Cart Style

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Anyone who has been to New York would have seen the many street food carts with signs marking them as 'Halal' serving what is known as Chicken/Gyro over Rice; Basically this platter of food consists of either chicken or lamb (also known as gyro) piled on top of a bed of rice alongside some salad & pita bread, and then drizzled with lots of white sauce and based on how much heat you can take, a dash or more of hot sauce; its all served together in a platter which you then combine and eat. 

It's quite interesting to find out that this street food which is like so popular there is linked simultaneously with "Halal Food"; It all started off when this street food vendor (probably middle eastern) opened a cart at the corner of 53rd St. and 6th Ave, basically walking distance from Times Square & Central Park and right in the middle of one of Manhattan's busiest streets. For about $4-$5, the Halal Cart Guy would serve Shredded Chicken and/or Lamb Gyro on a bed of Basmati Rice along with Salad & Pita all smothered in this top secret white sauce, drizzled with fiery red hot sauce and crammed together in this aluminum tray. He started off with catering to the Muslim population, the cabbies and the like but the food was so good that it ended up getting major popularity among the rest of the population from residents to tourists; the original street cart has a line which can lead upto like two blocks, but it has also led to the mushrooming of Halal Food Carts across the city. 

Every vendor has their own style of making this combination of meat, salad & rice, with their own secret recipes for marination & sauces; but the best part about this street food is that its Halal so its convenient for Muslims and then its delicious, affordable and available almost everywhere in the city. Having been craving this for a while, I found a recipe on making this from the website Serious Eats and tried it out yesterday; it had a lot of different components and after mixing it all up it tasted exactly like the ones that I used to have from the vendors; absolutely delicious and again one of this one-dish meals that can be just served  up together; the sauce just needed a bit more work, and I would probably add a bit less vinegar and mayo but still absolutely delicious. 

Chicken & Rice with White Sauce - Halal Food Cart Style (Serves 3-4 people; 3 guys and 4 girls)

Adapted from Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are by Ed Levine and The Serious Eats Team.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon red chili pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• salt – ½ tsp in marinade and ½ tsp in chicken; black pepper – ½ tsp in marinade & 1.5 tsp in chicken
• 2 pounds boneless chicken, chopped in cubes
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the rice:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise; though I would suggest using less because the sauce tasted too much of mayo
• 1/2 cup yogurt (strain it for a few hours in muslin cloth so it becomes more thick)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar (I think there was just a bit too much vinegar, next time will add less and then adjust after tasting)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (substituted few pinches dried parsley)
• 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper – 1.5 tsp
• Chopped Garlic – 1 clove

To serve:

• Salad (Make a salad of either of the following vegetables based on personal preference seasoned with a bit of salt & pepper – that’s the way that most street vendors serve it; I used cabbage, carrot & capsicum based on what I had at my place)
• Lettuce, shredded
• 1/4th head cabbage – shredded
•  1 carrot – sliced
• 1 capsicum – sliced
• Corn, chickpeas, olives (these are new options being given by street vendors and definitely something that I’d love to add next time I make this)
• 1-2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• Pita bread, brushed in butter or olive oil, lightly toasted, and cut into 1 × 3-inch strips

Method

For the chicken: Combine the lemon juice, oregano, coriander, garlic, and olive oil in a blender. Blend until smooth. Season the marinade to taste with salt and black pepper. Place the chicken in a bowl or a zip-lock bag and add half of the marinade & reserve the remaining marinade in the refrigerator. Make sure the marinade is mixed with the chicken properly, and then put it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours, turning occasionally to redistribute the marinade.

Remove the chicken from the bag and pat it dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper, going heavy on the pepper. Heat the oil in a stainless steel pan (don’t use non-stick because the chicken might stick) over medium-high heat until it is lightly smoking. Add the chicken pieces and cook without disturbing until they are lightly browned on one side, then flip the chicken. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the water from the chicken evaporates and the chicken is cooked through (4-5 minutes). The idea is to slightly crisp up the chicken in the same way that the street food vendors. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Roughly chop the chicken into 1/2- to 1/4-inch chunks. Transfer to a medium bowl, add the remaining marinade, cover loosely with plastic, and refrigerate while you cook the rice and prepare the sauce.

For the rice: Melt the butter over medium heat in a pot. Add the turmeric and cumin and cook until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is lightly toasted, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing. Remove from the heat and allow to rest until the water is completely absorbed and the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Fluff it up a bit and garnish with coriander.

For the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, and 2 teaspoons black pepper. Whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt.

To serve: Return the entire contents of the chicken bowl (chicken, marinade, and all juices) to the skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. 

To serve, divide the rice, salad, tomato, and toasted pita bread evenly among 3-4 plates. Pile the chicken on top of the rice. Top with the white sauce and hot sauce. Serve immediately, passing extra sauce at the table. To eat, mix it all up together.

Ginger Wrapped Chicken with Rice

The final dish - with spring onions garnished on top

So the next item that I made on Sunday was Ginger Wrapped Chicken with Rice; sounds interesting, no? The first time I had heard this dish was about like 6 years back in university and I was at a friend's place for a project or a get-together and she mentioned that she made this dish; now this friend of mine (who might just be surprised that I remember this conversation till date) makes really awesome food and back when I was just discovering my interest in food, I used to love having food at her place because it was so delicious and innovative. So that dish just remained in the back of my mind and while browsing online, I came across this recipe and I was just like oh, this must be that same recipe.

Tried it and it was just delicious; the recipe serves enough for like 8 people, so I halved it and with the chowmein that I had made with it, there was so much food leftover that it was enough for lunch and dinner the next day. I loved how like the Singaporean Rice this was one meal in itself. It had that oriental Chinese touch but there was no need to make rice and gravy separately because it all mixed together in this beautiful fusion of flavors.

Mixing it all together

Ginger Wrapped Chicken with Rice (Serves 8) 
Adapted from Shireen Anwer 

The recipe serves eight people easily, so I halved it since I was making for less people 
Ingredients

Boneless chicken (cut into strips)    ½ kg

Rice boiled ½ kg

Spring onion       1 handful

Carrots thinly sliced         1

Capsicum thinly sliced    1

Green chilies sliced 3-4

Stocks 3 cups
I just used 1 chicken cube dissolved in about 1.5 cups of water, however, I would recommend adding the stock carefully, because I added all of it together and it got too watery, and then I needed to boil the water off

Water   ¼ cup

White pepper ½ tsp heaped

Corn flour 2 tbsp

Ginger sliced 2 tbsp

Soya sauce 3 tbsp

Chili sauce 3 tbsp

Ketchup 4 tbsp

Chili oil 6 tbsp
To make chilli oil, take 1 cup of oil and heat till it smokes; let it cool to room temperature then add 2 tbsp of red pepper flakes and 1 tbsp of red chilli powder; let it infuse for 4-6 hours and then strain it through a fine muslin cloth.

Unveiling the Surprise Filling Inside

Method

Dissolve 2 tbsp corn flour in ¼ cup water. Heat 4 tbsp chili oil, add 2 tbsp sliced ginger, ½ kg chicken strips and salt to taste, sauté for few minutes. Now add 1 thinly sliced carrots, 1 thinly sliced capsicum, 3-4 sliced green chilies. Add 3 cups stocks, ½ tsp heaped white pepper, 3 tbsp soya sauce, 3 tbsp chili sauce and 4 tbsp ketchup. Thicken with corn flour paste but gradually add the corn flour so that it doesn't get too thicky. The consistency should be saucy instead of very thick or too watery. Add spring onion right at the end so its maintains its color. As an alternative, I garnished the dish with spring onion because I forgot to add it earlier and I think that gives a beautiful look too. 

Take a big piece of foil and layer it in a dish. Put half of boiled rice, then spread chicken mixture, top with remaining rice. Put 2 tbsp chili oil on top, wrap and bake in a medium oven for 20 minutes.Unwrap at the table and mix it all up. Garnish with spring onions.

As an alternative this can also be made in a big pot, and layered similar to the way biryani is in case someone does not have an oven at home. 

Singaporean Rice

I have no idea why this dish is titled as Singaporean rice, or what the origins of this dish are. I really doubt that this truly reflects cuisine from Singapore, however, all I know is that I remember having it at a wedding a couple of years back in Karachi and it was all the rage back then. From then onwards, there have been lots of variations of this recipe with different variations of cooking the rice, the chicken and the noodles. This latest version is a recipe from Shireen Anwer and remains my favorite version both in terms of taste as well as in the relative ease of making the dish. For people who have not had the dish, this might seem like a very strange combination, but trust me, it's actually very delicious. 

Singaporean Rice (Adapted from Shireen Anwar) 

I have added comments in purple where I have deviated from the original recipe

Ingredients for Rice Layer

Rice                                          1/2 kg

White and black cumin seeds     1/2 tsp each

Peas (lightly boil them)              1/2 cup

Star aniseed (Badiyan ka Phool)  2

Oil                                            1/4 cup

Comments: I prefer the rice without the peas and the Aniseed/badiyan kay phool because otherwise it tastes Desi and similar to matar pulao; however, this is upto personal preference; I think other vegetables can also be added and the rice can even be made Chinese style

Ingredients for Chicken Layer

Boneless chicken                      1/2 kg

Carrots                                     1

Capsicums                                2

Tomato and onion                     1 each

Cabbage (sliced)                       1 cup

Ginger (chopped)                      1 tbsp

Spaghetti (boiled)                      1 cup

Comments: 

My family loves noodles, so I use a minimum of 200 grams egg noodles at least; For a different flavor, the spaghetti can even be fried and then added on the rice at the last moment just like chopsuey which gives it more crunch

The original recipe includes vegetables in the quantity given above, however, I always like to add more vegetables; in this version of Singaporean Rice, I had leftover boiled broccoli which I forgot to add in the vegetable mixture so I used it as a garnish in the end

Salt                                          1 tsp

Crushed black pepper                1 tsp

Red chilies                                1 tsp

Soya sauce                               2 tbsp

Red chili sauce                          2 tbsp

Ketchup                                    4 tbsp

Corn flour                                 1 tbsp

Oil                                            1/4 cup

Ingredients for Sauce

Mayonnaise                              1/2 cup

Salt                                          pinch

Crushed red chilies                    1/2 tsp

Sugar                                       1 tsp

Vinegar                                     2 tbsp

Ketchup                                    4 tbsp

Ingredients for Garnish

Green chilies (sliced and fried)   8

Garlic (sliced and fried)         4 tbsp

Method: 

For Rice

Soak rice for 15 minutes.

Heat oil. Put cumin seed, Ani star, salt, peas and rice with 2 cups of water.

Cover with lid and cook till rice done.

For Sauce

Put all sauce ingredients in a bowl; mix well and keep aside.

For Chicken

Heat oil in a pot and lightly fry ginger in it. Add chicken pieces and stir fry. Add salt, red chilies, black pepper, ketchup, chili and soya sauces. Fry for a while and add all vegetables. Do not over-cook vegetables. Add 1 cup water and when it comes to a boil, add corn flour mixed in 2 tbsp of water. When it becomes thick, turn off the flame. Add noodles in the vegetables and mix them all up. Add sauce in the above  mixture and mix it all up.

Topping

In another frying pan fry garlic cloves till golden and then green chili slices. Crush the garlic cloves in your hand.

To Serve

Take big serving dish; First spread rice; then spread the layer of spaghetti with vegetables and sauce; then garnish with fried garlic and green chilies.  

However, I like to serve this in a Pyrex baking dish, because I always put it in the oven and bake it for 10-15 minutes so it becomes warm and the flavors have a chance to meld together.

Hot Garlic Fried Rice

This is one of my favorite ways of using up leftover rice especially when I am in the mood for something oriental and delicious to eat, but am not in the mood to do like an elaborate meal. I usually add whatever ingredients I have at home, but during the times when I plan out a proper Chinese or Thai menu then I prepare the recipe from scratch. The addition of the garlic and the red chilli flakes makes it a good alternative to the regular chinese fried rice. 

Hot Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients

Rice - 2 cups

Garlic paste 1 tbsp.

Finely chopped garlic 1 tbsp.

Red Chilli Flakes – 1 tsp (Can be added more according to taste)

Onion, round thin slices - 1 cup

Carrot, finely chopped - 1/4 cup

Capsicum, finely chopped - 1/4 cup

Spring onion – 1/8 cup (for garnish)

Soya sauce- 3 tbsp

Chili Garlic sauce - 1 tbsp

Vinegar – 1 tbsp

Oil - 3 tbsp; Or use sesame oil – 2 tbsp which gives off a beautiful fragrance

Salt - To taste

Method

1.Pick, wash and soak rice for 10 minutes.

2. Boil water, add rice and a little salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, till rice is tender.

3. Drain. Add cold water. Drain again.

4.Keep in an open pot and use only after completely cooled. Using one day old rice is a better method because fresh rice is usually more sticky and it is also a good way of using up leftover rice.

5. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan with high edges. Add the garlic paste, chopped garlic and red chili flakes. Fry lightly.

6. Add the onion, carrot, capsicum, and salt. Stir fry over a high flame for 3 minutes.

7. Add the rice, Soya sauce and chili garlic sauce. Stir fry over a high flame for 3 minutes.

8. Garnish with spring onion

Variation: The recipe above is the way the recipe should be followed; however, I have adapted this recipe based on convenience; 

I start off with whisking 2-3 eggs with salt and red chilli and then making like a scrambled omelette which I then keep aside. Then I follow the above recipe but I always use sesame oil and leftover rice, adding whatever ingredients are at home which are mostly onions and K&N chicken chunks. I add one chicken cube with the soya sauce to give it some added taste and then add the omelette when the rice is hot enough.