Infamous Taste of Pakistan – Student Biryani Food Cart
Student Biryani Food Cart
Btw 37th Road & 74th Street (right outside of Kabab King)
Jackson Heights, Queens 11372
Student Biryani Truck, Jackson Heights, NY
For those of you who doesn’t know, I am a HUGE fan of biryani! HUGE! My Pakistani friend Tahsin and Indian friend Leena was ever so generous to share with me their mother’s home cooked version of chicken biryani which I will share you pictures of. Both have obvious and similar ingredients like rice and the usage of chicken, but the seasonings and other spices is what separates them in taste and style. This is what I love about ethnic food. Check out my post on the Pakistani take on biryani.
I did not make a post on the Indian version of biryani but I will post you up a picture for you to see:
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!
Pakistani Peanut Pista Biscuits & Mango Drink
I have to confess, the Pakistani’s knows how to make great biscuit cookies! Among my favorites is the Peanut Pista Biscuits cookies shown below.
Peanut Pista Biscuits: Made in Pakistan
I can eat this whole package in one sitting, I swear! My friend has bought this for me to try since he knows how much I like to eat and try new things! I always try to post all my new and unique foodie experience to FCG.com and this is definitely worthy to post about.
Like most ethnic foods, you will have to journey to a local ethnic grocery store nearest you. I believe most Pakistani groceries are along Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, stretching from Church Avenue as far as Newkirk Avenue and beyond. In Queens, you can visit Jackson Heights and pick it up from there as well.
Delicious Peanut Pista Biscuit Cookies
This crunchy and flavorful biscuit/cookie has sprinkles of pistachios bits and the flavor of peanuts which is infused in the biscuit. If you’re a peanut and pistachio fan like I am, you will definitely enjoy this. When you take your first bite, the biscuit will make a crunch as it falls apart in your mouth. As you continue to chew through this, it feels almost creamy and buttery with a kick of peanut goodness with the crunch of pistachio goodness!
To complete this exciting snack experience, I will need a drink!
Regro Ka Tiger Mango Drink
For some of you that know me, I am a HUGE fan of mango. I love Mango Lassi, and this drink satisfies my mango lassi fix! This is a product of Pakistan and tastes great when refrigerated. It is sweet and somewhat thick, like a mango lassi, which is what I love. I can drink the whole six pack of this drink because I am addicted to it. Very delicious in my opinion and if you ever come across to this drink, pick it up and share it with your friends and family!
Until next time,
- FCG
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
