This utterly faithful recipe perfectly recreates a New York City halal-cart classic: Chicken and Rice with White Sauce. The chicken is marinated with herbs, lemon, and spices; the rice golden; the sauce, as white and creamy as ever. Chicken thighs are less prone to drying out like chicken breast, guaranteeing tender and juicy results.
A combination of mayonnaise and Greek yogurt, plus seasonings, nail that classic halal-cart white sauce.
Iceberg lettuce and tomato may seem like strange additions, but they’re essential elements of this famous New York City street food.
Manhattan is home to many smells, but perhaps the most delicious is the chicken-y, savory scent that emanates from from the city’s countless halal carts. Serving lunch to late-night, these carts dish up a container full of chicken rice that tastes like nothing else, crave-worthy and totally singular. To taste this particular chicken and rice you can get yourself to Midtown or try this home version by Kenji, a spot-on rendition of the street food classic. Marinated in oregano, lemon, and coriander, chicken thighs are browned, chopped into chunks and served over a pile turmeric-yellow rice. Of course, it wouldn’t be halal-cart style without the ubiquitous (and none too fancy) salad of iceberg and tomatoes, and that mysterious sweet-sour-tangy white sauce that just has to be ladled all over the chicken and rice for true street-style authenticity.
