[Homemade] Halal cart style chicken and lamb over rice

I’ve eaten halal carts all over NY for the past 15 years and I’ve finally nailed a recipe that beats out everyone besides Hamza & Madina and Shah’s in my opinion. Even the white sauce and hot sauce was made from scratch.

Chicken:
4-5 lbs chicken thighs,
8 oz greek or whole milk yogurt,
3 drops red food coloring,
1/4 cup infused shallot oil (or neutral oil),
1 tbs sumac,
1 tbs Kashmiri chili powder,
1 tbs hot Hungarian paprika,
1 tbs harissa,
1 tbs ras el hanout,
1 tbs garam marsala,
1 tbs coriander,
1 tbs garlic powder,
1 tbs onion powder,
1 tbs oregano,
1 tbs pepper,
1 tbs kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves),
1 tbs msg,
2 tbs salt

Instructions:
Cut chicken thighs into medium sized pieces.

In a separate bowl, mix greek yogurt, red food coloring, and oil together. Then add in the dry seasonings and mix until well combined and forms a paste.

Add this to the chicken and let it marinate overnight.

Following day, sear on a cast iron until your desired likeness.

Lamb + beef:
1 lb ground lamb,
1 lb ground beef (80/20),
1 large blended onion & 2 garlic cloves,
1 tbs sumac,
1 tbs Kashmiri chili powder,
1 tbs hot Hungarian paprika,
1 tbs harissa,
1 tbs ras el hanout,
1 tbs garam marsala,
1 tbs coriander,
1 tbs garlic powder,
1 tbs onion powder,
1 tbs oregano,
1 tbs pepper,
1 tbs kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves),
1 tbs msg,
2 tbs salt

Instructions:
While you can use 100% lamb, I find the lamb to be VERY strong by itself so I like to use a beef blend to cut that gaminess.

In a blender, blend up 2 onions and 3 cloves of garlic. Add in some of your spice mix to build a stronger flavor profile and then pulse it again. Add that into your meat mixture.

Mix in all the dry seasonings until well combined. Add the meat into an 8×8 baking pan and pat it flat. Let this sit in the fridge overnight.

Instructions:
Take out the meat from the fridge and let it get to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and let it cook for 18-20 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and drain out all the fat juices. Let it rest completely before cutting (at least 1-2 hours).

Once cooled, cut up (however much you want to put into your bowl) into cubes and sear it on a hot pan with diced onions and some butter for 3-5 min. This is when you’d want to add in your cut up chicken before adding it on your rice.

Mix all that meat into your rice first to flavor the rice with all that butter before adding your sauces.

Rice:
4 cups of basmati rice (preferably golden sella 1121),
2 tbs cumin seeds

Instructions:
Rinse the rice thoroughly (roughly 5 times) until the rice is clear.

People always screw up the rice by adding all of these seasonings, soaking their rice, and overcooking the rice. But the best way to make the perfect al dente basmati rice is by blooming cumin seeds in a pot for 30 seconds first before adding boiling water and followed by the rice. Boil it for ONLY 5 minutes, strain it, and then put back in the pot with the lid on to steam for about 20-30 min. But for the first 2 minutes put it on medium heat to evaporate any residual water.

I HIGHLY suggest not adding any butter, turmeric, and broth like nearly all recipes tell you to do. It’ll completely ruin the texture.

White Sauce: (makes 32oz)
2 cup whole milk yogurt (I use Stonyfield),
1 cup Kewpie mayonaise,
1 cup Crema Mexicana (I use Tropical brand),
1/4 of a lemon,
1/4 cup white vinegar (about a shot glass),
2 tbs dried parsley,
2 tbs kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves),
1 tbs dried dill,
1 tbs coriander,
1 tbs pepper,
1 tbs salt,
3 tbs sugar

Red Sauce: (makes a 12oz bottle)
4-6 cloves garlic,
1/2 charred onion,
1/2 charred tomato,
2 oz of shallot grapeseed oil (or any neutral oil),
4 oz pepper water,
2 oz white vinegar,
15 dried chili de arbol,
1 dried ghost peppers (Bhut Jolokia),
2 dried ancho chilis,
2 dried habaneros,
1 tbs Kashmiri chili powder,
1 tbs Indian red chili powder (extra hot),
1 tbs hot Hungarian paprika,
1 tbs spicy harissa,
1 tbs sumac,
1 tbs coriander,
1 tbs garlic powder,
1 tbs onion powder,
1 tbs pepper,
1 tbs tbs sugar,
1 tbs salt,
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Instructions:
Boil a small pot of water enough to fill all your dried peppers and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until soft. Reserve about 4-6oz of the pepper water.

Char the onion and tomato on your stove in the meantime.

In a blender, add everything besides the oil. Blend well, and slowly incorporate the shallot oil (to emulsify) and/or more hot pepper water until your desired consistency.

Strain the sauce through a mess strainer and pour into a bottle.

Other toppings (optional):
shredded iceberg lettuce,
diced cucumbers,
diced tomatoes,
pita bread