Sabri Nehari Pakistani Cuisine
Sabri Nehari
2502 West Devon Avenue (between Campbell & Maplewood Avenue)
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 743-6200
*Reservations not necessary
Sabri Nehari Pakistani Restaurant
Front and side view of Sabri Nehari Pakistani Restaurant
Chicago is home to some of the largest communities of Pakistani and Indian people. Yes there are other South Asians here and there, but nothing like the two groups that I mentioned above. A trip to Chicago is not without its charm if you do not visit Devon Avenue. Devon Avenue stretches blocks after blocks of predominately Pakistani and Indian businesses. Never have I ever seen so many restaurants, clothing shops, mosques, cash & carry stores (aka supermarkets), and bakeries/dessert shops. Definitely will put New York’s Jackson Heights to utter shame. Oh there are so many delicious bakeries which is paradise for me because I love dessert and there is one in particular that is very famous called Tahoora which I will feature in my next post.
Sabri Nehari is a must try and it is highly recommended. There are so many positive reviews on this restaurant and also my friend recommends this spot too. I am open to almost every and any cuisine, as long as it doesn’t make me vomit, because that is what Finechinagirl enjoys the most. Scouring the city for delicious, unique, and scrumptious food is my mission and I am always very eager to try new cuisines.
To be very mindful, Pakistani cuisine and Indian cuisine may look very similar, but they are very different by taste! So don’t get the two confused. From what I noticed, and I can be very wrong, Pakistani food infuse a lot of meat in their dishes while their Indian counterpart predominately use vegetables in their dishes due to their religion. Also, Indian dishes use a lot of their own homegrown spices like chili pepper, black mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, ginger, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and maybe paprika. Pakistani dishes incorporates brown and green cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, black peppers, jalepenos, cumin, bay leaves, coriander, caraway seeds, and fennel. Curry of course is curry and will look the same anywhere, but the tastes is vastly different because of the usage or non-usage of meat and their seasonings.
So that’s the background! I’m always mindful about the differences in cuisines because there are times where my friends or co-worker says Chinese and Taiwanese food are the same thing. While there are many similar elements in their dishes, it is not politically correct to say that they are the same when they’re not. Think about that!
Let’s move on to the food!
Paula Deen’s Old Fashioned Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Paula Deen's Old Fashion Cupcakes w/Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Easy, simple and your back-to-basics old fashioned cupcakes. I am not one that possesses many skills in the art of baking, but luckily there are recipes that simplifies it so everyone can bake anything. Making cupcakes seems pretty simple, but nowadays people jazz it up with all sorts of fancy decorative frosting which to me is admirable and way too challenging for me. Fortunately, the people whom I love to bake for which includes my family and friends like it light and simple. I think I can speak for most of the older Chinese adults because they cannot handle too much sweetness. So I am pleased to show you the cupcakes which I baked and the chocolate frosting that I specifically made for my friend who loves chocolate! This frosting is not a Paula Deen recipe and I probably understand why because it doesn’t contain a lot of butter! Haha, bad joke.
Safran French Vietnamese Cuisine – Chelsea, NYC
Safran
88 7th Avenue
Near W. 16th St.
(212) 929-1778
Safran Restaurant
Safran is located in the heart of Chelsea where the restaurants are chic, creative, and very down to earth. I have always loved this neighborhood because it is very diverse with all different types of people of all ages, more so with the younger crowd, and they all dressed so fashionably — yes, creatively fashionably. Besides lots of unique restaurants and people here, there are a lot of clubs and boutique shops that you will love to visit. Only in Chelsea will you find some of the most creative, yet down to earth people and restaurants here.
Which brings me to my visit to Safran.
My friends and co-workers alike have constantly urged me to eat at this fancy establishment. To my amazement, I probably passed by this restaurant maybe hundreds of times when I take my trips to Lohmann’s or to the eye doctor. But never once thought about eating there because I am accustomed to having Vietnamese cuisine in Chinatown. A Vietnamese fusion restaurant sounded interesting to me so one day I decided to gather some of my closest friends to meet up here for dinner.
Let’s get started with the food shall we?
Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Cheesecake
Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake
I love it how Paula Deen simplifies all her recipes. Sometimes I don’t want to be bothered with techniques or strange expensive ingredients that’s beyond me. This extraordinary woman, and in my eyes the baking Queen, makes this cheesecake so easy to make that even a child can do it. No joke!
From my experience with cheesecake, it is always better to give the cheesecake at least one day of rest in the refrigerator before serving. So what I did was that I prepared this the night before Thanksgiving Day.
