Homemade Chicken Biryani – Pakistani Style
BIRYANI!! Yeah!
What is biryani? Well, it is basically [basmati] rice that is slow-cooked with many spices, such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, mint, garlic, saffron, with meat. Biryani is prominent in Pakistan, India, and other Muslim countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangaladesh and so on and so forth. According to Wikipedia, each country makes biryani different by adding their unique flavors to make it their own.
Now my dear Pakistani friend brought me chicken biryani that his mother made which got me all excited because it’s homemade! It’s one thing to go out to the restaurant to get it, but I personally think it’s always better when it is made at home! He told me that his mother and sister spends at least four hours prepping and cooking it. I guess anything that is cooked for that long has to be good because all the ingredients are fully immersed into the main component of the dish, which is the rice!
Homemade Chicken Biryani - Pakastani Style
Sunshine Restaurant, Queens, NY
Sunshine Restaurant
69-15 Northern Blvd.
Woodside, Queens
(718) 639 – 6900
Cuisine Category (As listed in the Restaurant): Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi
Sunshine Restaurant
Sunshine Restaurant
*7/19/09 Update: I returned here for the second time and I love the haleem and naan! It’s so savory and enjoyable to eat especially when the naan is fresh out of the oven! I highly recommend you guys to try!
Lesson of the day! As my friend points out, when a restaurant or store lists a few countries for the cuisine type, the country that is listed first is usually the primary group. So in this case, even though the restaurant lists 3 countries, it is owned by a Pakistani and the cuisine type is Pakistani. The reason why the other countries are listed is to attract customers of those nationalities. Yes, what an interesting tidbit!
The world of Jackson Heights is bristling with fast-paced people primarily from South Asia of all hours of the night. See in Chinatown, it’s gets dead around 11pm, but here supermarkets are shops are opened 24hrs! Restaurants are opened late night, but not all of them are. I have to admit, yes there are people walking around late night, but they are mostly men. I have yet to see any women besides my friend and I, so it made us feel a little uncomfortable. Now, there are halal carts on almost every block so you can be sure that you’ll never go hungry. After shopping for Indian spices and ingredients at the infamous Patel Brothers supermarket, my friend and I decided to look for a restaurant to settle down to eat. So we drove to Woodside, which isn’t too far away, to a restaurant that I have yet to explore.
Sunshine Restaurant Interior
Restaurant Interior of Sunshine Restaurant
Excited to what I have in store for my taste buds, my friend orders a bunch of dishes that you can see below!
The Meal
Late Night Dinner: Chicken & Rice (Halal Guys NYC on 53rd/6th)
Halal Guys NYC
53rd & 6th Avenue (Next to the Hilton Hotel)
New York, NY
Operations: 7:30pm – 4:00am
This halal cart is famous for its chicken and rice platter. As you may see many other vendors like this one, the taste and quality of the food is completely different. Every day there is a long line queued with many hungry New Yorkers as well as tourists just to get a taste of this delicious platter. The line moves very quickly and the wait is definitely well worth the wait.
Chicken & Rice: Halal Guys 53rd/6th Ave Long Line
More pictures after the jump! Read more
