Halal Cart Chicken and Rice – 2 Ways!

Discover two effortless ways to recreate the iconic Halal Cart Chicken and Rice: one-pan or rice cooker – your choice!

My fondest memory of my time in Vegas was walking all the way to the Venetian from my hotel in the cold (it was January) just to grab myself a plate of Halal Guys Chicken and Rice platter. It’s that white and spicy red sauce that gets me all the time! The first time I attempted to replicate the Halal Cart Chicken and Rice recipe was in early 2020, when Covid first hit, and a work trip to Vegas (that I was so looking forward to!) was cancelled. After a couple more tries, I’ve honed this Halal Guys Chicken and Rice recipe to be as effortless as possible. This recipe is an easy, one-pan version that can gets you a full meal in 30 minutes!

The Halal Guys platter has three important components to it:

• the Chicken Shawarma
• the Yellow Rice
• the White and Red sauces.

The Easy Chicken Shawarma

I have a chicken shawarma recipe here that you can most certainly follow, but I did use a slightly different recipe here. It uses slightly less ingredients. The main ‘cheat ingredient’ here is the garam malasa. It’s simply a blend of different spices that would commonly be used in chicken shawarma such as cumin, cinnamon, star anise – depending on the brand. They will all work. Don’t have garam masala? Use curry powder!

Another key difference here is that I pan-fried this instead of roasting this in the oven. For the one-pan to work the best, you should pan-fry the chicken.

The best pan to use to pan fry and cook the rice would be a heavy bottomed pan with some height at the sides. You can also use a pot for this, but I find the pan easier to handle.

The pan I used here is a 26 cm or 10 inch pan.

How to Cook The Signature Halal Cart Yellow Rice

Method #1: One-Pan

The yellow rice is extremely easy to make! You are using the same pan that we fried the chicken in. The rice gets its colour from the turmeric powder. The rice also uses the chicken fat drippings and spices in the pan to further flavour the chicken. Since the chicken is marinated with turmeric powder, it will further colour the rice.

What type of rice to use? Basmati rice would be the best rice to use. I would recommend soaking the basmati rice first for about half an hour. This will ensure the rice cooks properly. A secret: I don’t actually use basmati rice that often! I always just use regular white rice. With white rice, you do not need to soak.

How to properly cook rice over the stovetop? To cook perfect rice over the stovetop requires a few precautions:

For long-grain rice, such as basmati and jasmine white rice, the ratio of rice to liquid is 1:2. For best results, use the same cup to measure out both rice and liquid.

PRO TIP#1: Use a tight lid so steam does not escape. The steam is essential to properly cook the rice.

PRO TIP #2: While this is tempting – do not peek before the timing is up! You do not want the steam to escape. Allow the rice to cook through, and start peeking only at the 20 minute mark. Depending on the size of your pan and the amount of rice, the timing varies.

PRO TIP #3: Once rice is cooked, turn off the heat, and let it continue steaming for another 5-10 minutes to absorb the

Method #2: Rice Cooker

Do you have a rice cooker? Then I would actually recommend transferring the rice to your rice cooker and let it cook there. Rice cooks a lot evenly and effortlessly in a rice cooker. It’s an extra step to pour the rice into the rice cooker – but it promises perfect rice! In the time it takes the rice to cook, I would prepare the salad or do the dishes. Rice cooker requires lesser liquid to cook, follow the rice cooker directions for the amount of stock needed. The general ratio for cooking rice in a rice cooker is 1:1 rice to water.

Want to skip pan-frying the rice in the spices altogether on those extra busy days – I totally get it!

1. Add rinsed uncooked rice to the rice cooker and fill with enough water (or stock) to cook.
2. Add turmeric, paprika and salt to the rice. Stir to combine. Top with butter, and cook at regular rice cooker setting.
3. Once rice cooker is done, carefully open the lid and gently fluff with a rice paddle to combine.
4. Effortless yellow rice is ready!

The Halal Cart White and Red Sauces

I experimented with the White Sauce until I came to this final recipe. The White Sauce has to have that right balance of rich and creamy, and that refreshing tang. I can’t say this recipe is the exact same as Halal Guys, but I’m more than happy with it! I added cilantro in the sauce itself, Halal Guys do not add this.

Want an even easier meal? My one lazy hack is to skip making the sauce altogether and just drizzle on Kewpie mayo!

I can’t quite replicate the spicy red sauce from Halal Guys – the chilli peppers used are different from what I can find here in Singapore. Some of the recipes that I find online simply require the dried chillies to be blended into a paste without the need to cook it through. With the local dried chillies, not cooking down the chillies mighhttt result in an upset tummy.

So I just use ready-made bottled chilli sauces! The best spicy sauces that will work best and taste closer to what you get to Halal Guys would be harissa, salsa picante and sriracha.

The Salad & Pita bread

The chicken and rice platter usually comes with a side of salad and a pita quarter. The salad can’t be anymore simpler. No cooking is needed! Simply grab your tomatoes and iceberg lettuces, and slice it thinly.

I rarely add a pita at home – more than enough carbs for me! – but if you want to add that pita, then you can attempt my easy stove top recipe here.

More Recipes Like This

If you love this recipe, you might love these too:

• Rainbow Rice
• Claypot Chicken Rice in a Rice Cooker

Halal Cart Chicken and Rice – 2 ways!

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• Chicken

• 4-500grams Chicken Thigh

• 1 tsp Garam Masala (or Curry Powder)

• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder

• 1 tsp Paprika or Chilli Powder

• 1 tsp Onion Powder

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder (optional)

• 1 tsp Salt

• 1/2 tsp Pepper

• 1 tbsp Lime or Lemon Juice

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

• Yellow Rice

• 2 Cups Long-Grain White Rice or Basmati Rice

• 1 tbsp Ghee or Butter

• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder

• 1 tsp Paprika or Chilli Powder

• 4 Cups Chicken Stock*

• 1 tsp Salt, or to taste

• White Sauce

• 1/2 cup Mayo

• 1/2 cup Yoghurt

• 1 tbsp Lime or Lemon Juice

• 1 tsp Salt

• Pinch of Pepper

• 2 tsp Sugar

• 1 tsp Vinegar

• 2 tbsps Water (optional)

• 4 tbsps chopped Coriander or Cilantro

• Cheat Red Sauce

• Sriracha, Harissa or Salsa Picante

• Salad

• Tomatoes, diced

• Lettuce, shredded

• A handful of Coriander or Cilantro

• Pita bread

Directions

• Making the White Sauce
• Simply combine all the ingredients for the white sauce. Done! For best results, keep sauce in the fridge to allow the flavours to fully develop.
• Marinating the Chicken
• Combine all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Massage marinade onto the boneless chicken and allow to marinade for 2 hours, overnight would be best.
  Before cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge for about 10 minutes to warm up to room temperature.
• Cooking The Chicken
• Add oil to a pan and let heat over medium to medium-high heat. Pan fry the marinated chicken, chicken skin down first.
• Flip chicken over to the over side to finish cooking.
• Once chicken is fully cooked, take chicken off the pan. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes, before chopping the chicken into bite-sized shawarma pieces.
• #1 Cooking The Rice in the Pan
• Wash rice until water runs clear.
• In the same pan used to panfry chicken, add butter or ghee. Scrape the bottom of the pan to combine the chicken fat and leftover spices with the butter.
• Add the washed rice, along with turmeric powder and paprika or chilli powder. Stir fry rice, until rice is fully coated with the butter and turmeric powder.
• Pour in chicken stock. Make sure to add salt if using unsalted chicken stock.
• Allow the chicken stock to come to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to a simmer (use the lowest heat), and cover the pan or pot with a lid. Do not open the lid so steam can properly cook the rice.
• Allow rice to cook – it should take about 20-25 minutes. At the 20 to 25-minute mark, simply peek in to see if rice has cooked. You can lightly fluff with a fork to check doneness. Once rice is cooked, turn off the heat, and continue to let rice sit with the closed lid for about 5-10 more minutes. Rice is ready.
• #2 Cooking the Rice in the Rice Cooker
• Wash rice until water runs clear.
• In the same pan used to panfry chicken, add butter or ghee. Scrape the bottom of the pan to combine the chicken fat and leftover spices with the butter.
• Add the washed rice, along with turmeric powder and chilli powder. Stir fry rice, until rice is coated.
• Transfer rice to your rice cooker pot. Add chicken stock according to what your rice cooker need – in general the ratio is 1:1. Therefore, for this recipe, add 2 cups of stock to 2 cups of rice. Stir in salt if using unsalted chicken stock.
• Turn on the rice cooker. Rice is done once rice cooker is done!
• Assembly
• Plate rice, add the chicken, the salad, pita bread if using, and drizzle on the white and red sauces. Sprinkle with coriander or cilantro – done!

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