But you have to cook the chicken until it’s got crispy edges. Else you’re going to miss out on the epic goodness of this dish. Epic. Goodness.
ETA:
What’s your current MUST TRY dish?
It looks a bit like chicken biryani.
My favorite halal chicken dish is Chicken 65. The tenderloin (dark) meat traditionally used for Chicken 65 also makes awesome fajita meat.
The cook at one of the bars I go to makes an amazing stuffed pepper soup. It may be the best soup I have ever had. Most stuffed pepper soup is pretty good, but his has something special, and the bastard won’t tell me what it is :mad: and he only puts it on the menu 2 or 3 times a year, freakin’ sadist.
I happen to have some chicken thighs defrosting in the refrigerator right now.
You’ve convinced me, I’ll try it tonight.
Go on then, tell us what you think is in it. I bet some of the better cooks here can help you recreate it.
Or you could just see if it’s possibly one of these?
Excellent. I’ll expect a full report. 
The dish’s name is a bit misleading. The term “Halaal” is the Muslim equivalent of Kosher (more or less). Its a way of butchering that conforms to the faith. It has no bearing at all on the way it is prepared.
It’s because the chicken and rice carts seen on every street corner in NYC are known as “halal carts” due to their prominent proclamations of halal meat. (My Muslim friend says she finds their claim of hallal meat dubious as true halal meat cannot be sold so cheaply). In theory a cart which advertises itself as halal could sell anything; in practice they always sell chicken & rice.
You can get this dish for $5 anywhere in Manhattan. Even prepared well, it’s nothing special. And yes, it is very like biryani, except fewer spices and no egg.
Oh, for sure. I get that. But I think the recipe is supposed to represent a particular style of cart food you find in NYC. I’ve not had the opportunity to try it myself but it’s reputation seems to precede it.
That hurt. A little bit. Yeah.
Sorry about that dawg, but I actually feel sad for you that you think some fried chicken thigh on rice with adjwain seed topped with a bland and caloric sauce suspiciously similar to ranch dressing is “epic goodness.” It’s a cheap filling lunch you stuff down your gullet in the half-hour the boss man gives you. It’s not meant to be more than that … And it isn’t.
Ouch. Even I felt that one.
Alrighty then. I didn’t know I was dealing with Chef Boulud.
I agree. But one of the better-known “halal carts” is run by Egyptians. And this cart is really well-known. It’s got a Wikipedia article, coverage in the New York Times and elsewhere and did well in a taste-off among street food vendors in New York. I wonder what the formal name, if any, is for this chicken dish.
So if I can’t eat at Alinea each day should I just take a vitamin pill with my Ape Chow?
I’ll take humble food prepared well over molecular gastronomy or haute cuisine every day
Unless it is for QuickSilver.
Here’s my latest obsession:
Soak garbanzo beans overnight; cook with a leek, carrot and salt; remove beans from liquid and discard leek and carrot. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with generous amounts of sweet paprika and ground cumin, add a little salt and mix well. Add pitted black olives and pieces of fresh cheese (soft and white, like mozzarella, but I think another kind of cheese would work better). Let cool.
Put a bed of washed rocket/arugula (eruca sativa) on a plate, add a little salt and ladle on the garbanzo mix. Top with a dressing consisting of minced tomato (without skin) and radish, a mild vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt.
The finishing touch: Toast a handful of sesame seeds in a dry skillet and sprinkle over the top.
Tastes like bacon.
Dude. It’s chicken. And rice. I’m so tired if people rhapsodizing over perfectly ordinary food. If you wanted to tell me about how a street cart hot dog is an example of the ultimate MUST EAT food I’d say the same thing. I’m sick of all the pretentious yammering about the ultimate this and that. It’s lunch. It’s fine. It costs $5.
It’s great to enjoy ordinary things. You have me all wrong. I’m not against simple things.
As would I. All that chemi-whipped shit makes me gag. Look - I like Mac n cheese with tuna but it’s nothing special. Halal chicken just isn’t very special. I mean “a bland type of biryani” is a pretty accurate description.
I just object in princie to the “must try” characterization. If you’ve ever come home drunk and all you had in the house was some leftover chicken and some rice and you threw it all together in a pan with some onions, you already know what it tastes like.
I’m still going to make it tonight, it’s new to us.
I have a 4 year old who will eat anything and a 2 year old who can be a bit picky, but I know he’ll eat chicken and rice.
Mmmm…Saving that. Thanks.
Hello Again, I know where you’re coming from. Food has become a fetish lately. I’m not trying to raise a simple chicken and rice dish above it’s station. It’s satisfying and filling and comforting. And I’m simply into it lately. I’m also enjoying the hell out of making it my own with a twist of hot sauces and non-mayo based white sauce. Next week or next month I’ll be telling everyone about the next new thing I’ve stumbled upon or rediscovered. It might be tuna casserole (it won’t, but it might.)
And if continue to act like jaded ass, come the fall, I’m not going to share my EPIC french onion soup recipe or spinach brownies.