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chicken boti at khan's [Khan BBQ reopened at new location]

chicken boti at khan's [Khan BBQ reopened at new location]
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  • chicken boti at khan's [Khan BBQ reopened at new location]

    Post #1 - June 6th, 2005, 7:03 am
    Post #1 - June 6th, 2005, 7:03 am Post #1 - June 6th, 2005, 7:03 am
    Folks, i'll say it again

    if you're on devon, get the chicken boti at khan's bbq, best kabob on the street, and if you happen to be there on a bustling hot summerish night, it's probably the place that feels most like a dhaba somewhere in the indian or pakistani heartland

    let me be clear - not the tandoori chicken, not the frontier chicken - the chicken boti.

    Unfortunately, I don't have digital pics or better yet smell-o-vision to induce folks to go, but if I did, you'd want a bite right now
  • Post #2 - June 6th, 2005, 7:28 am
    Post #2 - June 6th, 2005, 7:28 am Post #2 - June 6th, 2005, 7:28 am
    Zim,

    Khan Barbeque Restaurant
    2262 West Devon Avenue
    Chicago, IL 60659
    773-274-8600
    Hours: 10:30 AM - 10:30 PM

    What you have posted sounds very, very intriguing. Are there any sides one should order to go with this?

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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  • Post #3 - June 6th, 2005, 4:28 pm
    Post #3 - June 6th, 2005, 4:28 pm Post #3 - June 6th, 2005, 4:28 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:Zim,

    Is this one of those places which opens at 5 PM and Closes at 5 AM?

    Khan Barbeque Restaurant

    Regards,


    No its not - the menu Iam looking at claims its open from 10am to 12pm.
    This is probably accurate - I had asked them, IIRC, if they opened very
    early (they have some good looking breakfast items on the menu), and they
    had said they didnt. I once tried stopping by on a weekend breakfast
    attempt (instead of goign to Tahoora for their veggie Halwa-Puri breakfast, I
    wanted some good non-veggie nehari for breakfast if at all possible)... this was
    at about 9am, and it wasnt open then. So, 10 might well be their opening
    time.

    I have not had Zim's experience, but thats a situational thing I think. He was
    probably there this weekend, when it was busy and on a hot summer day,
    and it probably did feel like a dhaba with what sounds like an outstanding
    dish.

    I was last at Khan's on a weekday, just after 5pm. It was cold, and there was
    hardly anyone there - thus it didnt feel like a dhaba at all. Had some kabab
    roll type thing, and it was relatively unmemorable to me (also, there were
    no good smells - obviously because there was no crowd, and so basically
    nothing had been cooking for a while; just after 5pm on a weekday is
    probably a bad time to go there). It didnt seem like it had just opened - there
    was one table with stuff sittign on it that hadnt been removed, and the
    grill-guy seemed like he was bored, been there was a while, just hanging
    around with not much to do at the time.

    Also, BTW, the menu I picked up was my last visit - that was maybe a
    couple of months ago? Looking at my menu, it says : Tandoori Chicken,
    Steam Chicken, Fried Chicken, Braost Chicken (their spelliing - maybe they
    mean Broast? Or maybe its just Chicken Breast, dunno :-), Frontear
    Chicken (ok, maybe they did mean Broast), Frontier Beef, Bihari Kabab,
    Sheekh Kabab, Fried Fish, Chapli Kabab, Fish Curry. Thats it, for the
    grilled items - and 3 are offered in rolls.

    Thus, maybe when I actually last went to Khan's (unless their menu was
    wrong, as is very possible)... they maybe didnt have the Chicken Boti
    at all? Or maybe its just a weekend dish? At any rate, I didnt know (or
    remember) that it was the standout dish to try - thanks to Zim I do now,
    and on my next trip to Devon that will be *the* dish I stop for, for my next
    Devon meal.

    c8w

    P.S. I can see from the menu, if its at all accurate, why it would be a pretty
    solid draw over the weekend for meat-eating customers. Nehari, paya,
    Haleem, biryani, several kababs etc.I try and stay away from Devon on
    weekends as much as possible, usually, except early mornings or later
    evenings - but maybe this would be worth making an exception for (unless,
    of course, they really are open till 12pm - in which case it would be a great
    place to stop at late instead of the cabbie joints).
  • Post #4 - June 6th, 2005, 5:29 pm
    Post #4 - June 6th, 2005, 5:29 pm Post #4 - June 6th, 2005, 5:29 pm
    c8w wrote:
    Also, BTW, the menu I picked up was my last visit - that was maybe a
    couple of months ago? Looking at my menu, it says : Tandoori Chicken,
    Steam Chicken, Fried Chicken, Braost Chicken (their spelliing - maybe they
    mean Broast? Or maybe its just Chicken Breast, dunno :-), Frontear
    Chicken (ok, maybe they did mean Broast), Frontier Beef, Bihari Kabab,
    Sheekh Kabab, Fried Fish, Chapli Kabab, Fish Curry. Thats it, for the
    grilled items - and 3 are offered in rolls.


    I love the oddly inserted western menu items, though I would never eat them. One think I like about their sign is that it lists nihari, chapli kabob, shashylk, a couple other kabobs and then in the bottom right "club sandwich"

    anyway, c8w's right on the hours 10-12. I was there this sunday ~bout 8:30 or so, and it was bustling, full of smoky good smells.

    I don't think the takeout menu lists all the the items they have there - I have a takeout menu from there as well which doesn't (blue trifold). it is however on the doublesided laminated menus near the front counter.

    in terms of side dishes, I stick to meat there, and for that matter the dry meat dishes and the occasional nan (which is ok, not exceptional). Aside from the boti, I think the bihari kabob is pretty good and the tandoori fish.

    Though Rob in this thread singled out the greens.

    If i want greens I'll get the sarson ka saag at chopal instead.
  • Post #5 - June 6th, 2005, 8:03 pm
    Post #5 - June 6th, 2005, 8:03 pm Post #5 - June 6th, 2005, 8:03 pm
    c8w wrote:
    Also, BTW, the menu I picked up was my last visit - that was maybe a
    couple of months ago? Looking at my menu, it says : Tandoori Chicken,
    Steam Chicken, Fried Chicken, Braost Chicken (their spelliing - maybe they
    mean Broast? Or maybe its just Chicken Breast, dunno :-), Frontear
    Chicken (ok, maybe they did mean Broast), Frontier Beef, Bihari Kabab,
    Sheekh Kabab, Fried Fish, Chapli Kabab, Fish Curry. Thats it, for the
    grilled items - and 3 are offered in rolls.


    I love the oddly inserted western menu items, though I would never eat them. One think I like about their sign is that it lists nihari, chapli kabob, shashylk, a couple other kabobs and then in the bottom right "club sandwich"


    I have only their pickup menu - that doesnt have the club sandwich listed at
    all. It is, however, one of the most mis-spelt menus Ive seen in a while...
    (Braost Chicken, Frontear Chicken, Oakra, Alo Gobi - its almost always
    Aloo surely -, both Dal and Dall on the same menu, Pilao, both Chana
    and Channa, and Vandaloo. And I dont even mention the usual "omlet" and
    things of that nature :-)

    anyway, c8w's right on the hours 10-12. I was there this sunday ~bout 8:30 or so, and it was bustling, full of smoky good smells.


    Actually, I belive Iam not. Phoned the place and asked them - they didnt seem to
    be hearing me very well for some reason, but the indication I got was that
    the Chicken Boti might actually be a regular item on their menu, that it was
    (I think) about 6.50, and that theyre closing at 10:30 tonight, at any
    rate :-)


    I don't think the takeout menu lists all the the items they have there - I have a takeout menu from there as well which doesn't (blue trifold). it is however on the doublesided laminated menus near the front counter.


    Hm ok. I might have an even older one - mine is a green trifold. But the impression
    I got from my phonecall is that youre right, it *is* a regular item on their
    menu.


    Though Rob in this thread singled out the greens.

    If i want greens I'll get the sarson ka saag at chopal instead.


    Second-hand impressions Ive gotten of this dish (primarily from a taste
    test by an uncle picking up both Bhabi's and Chopal's sarson ka saag
    on the same day) confirms the above - that the Chopal Sarson might be
    one of the best around on Devon. Me, I see little reason to switch to a
    different item than Chilli Chicken there, its one of the best dishes on
    Devon, probably.

    c8w
  • Post #6 - June 6th, 2005, 8:53 pm
    Post #6 - June 6th, 2005, 8:53 pm Post #6 - June 6th, 2005, 8:53 pm
    Zim,

    Motivated by your Khan's Chicken Boti post, I found myself at Khan's for lunch. I agree, the Chicken Boti is terrific. Crisp, tender, juicy, flavorful, spicy, though not overly hot in a chile pepper sense. A perfect match for the excellent naan and accompanying sauce.

    Thank's for posting the recommendation.

    Kahn's Chicken Boti
    Image

    Image

    Naan
    Image

    Rice
    Image

    Khan's BBQ Menu (Front). Please note address on menu is incorrect.
    Image

    Khan's BBQ Menu (Back)
    Image

    Khan's BBQ
    Image

    Oh, and yes, Khan's smelled really good. :)

    Enjoy,
    Gary

    Khan B.B.Q
    2401 W Devon
    Chicago, IL 60645
    773-338-2800
    Last edited by G Wiv on May 7th, 2007, 5:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #7 - June 6th, 2005, 10:58 pm
    Post #7 - June 6th, 2005, 10:58 pm Post #7 - June 6th, 2005, 10:58 pm
    Hi,

    I was motivated by the same and arrived at 10:15 this evening. I even have photos as proof!

    I came late enough they asked that I not eat on the premises because they were closing at 10:30. So I ordered the Chicken Boti, onion naan, onion roti and a salt Lassi to drink while I waited. I guess the way had already been paved for eccentric people wearing black, I had a black knit shirt, wanting to photograph food.

    While I waited, Mr. Khan brought out a dish of Frontier Chicken for me to taste. When I wanted to photograph it, he took it away to add more chicken so it would be a pleasing photograph. Once the formalities were over I tasted the Frontier Chicken, which was teetering on the high water mark of my spice tolerance. Since Mr. Khan looked so expectant, I used my best acting skills to indicate this was my normal level of spicy heat.

    Chicken Frontier
    Image

    Mr. Khan took the Frontier Chicken and dropped it onto the griddle along with a large mound of rice. He cooked them together, then arranged them on the plate and placed in front of me. This was now Frontier Chicken Rice, which was really just a bit easier for me to eat.

    I asked him if he had many taxi driver customers. He affirmed then said he really had more families. When I had walked in there was a family grouping of eight people along with several school age children eating and conversing pleasantly. He apologized for not allowing me to eat but he really wanted to go home. He commented he is there daily for 12+ hours and doesn’t see his family enough. When he comes home, they are all asleep. He sees them principally at breakfast and taking the kids to school. We agreed you will never regret on your deathbed spending more time at work, but you will feel the loss of not spending more time with family.

    Mr. Khan
    Image

    When my food was ready, it was arranged, photographed and packed. Since Gary did the honors before me, I will tell you my food looked just as good as his. Mr. Khan did indicate he is looking for a larger space, so there is the potential he may be on the move.

    Clearly Zim, you made quite an attractive post to get at least two people motivated. I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept, but I will return again soon during a more heavier trafficked period to understand better. As it was, I had my usual parking Karma in front which took all my excuses away.

    Thanks for the enthusiastic post today.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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  • Post #8 - June 7th, 2005, 7:04 am
    Post #8 - June 7th, 2005, 7:04 am Post #8 - June 7th, 2005, 7:04 am
    Cathy2 wrote:Clearly Zim, you made quite an attractive post to get at least two people motivated. I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept, but I will return again soon during a more heavier trafficked period to understand better. As it was, I had my usual parking Karma in front which took all my excuses away.

    Thanks for the enthusiastic post today.


    Wonder what Zim did that ab and EC did not :wink: :wink:
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #9 - June 7th, 2005, 7:22 am
    Post #9 - June 7th, 2005, 7:22 am Post #9 - June 7th, 2005, 7:22 am
    Vital Information wrote:
    Cathy2 wrote:Clearly Zim, you made quite an attractive post to get at least two people motivated. I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept, but I will return again soon during a more heavier trafficked period to understand better. As it was, I had my usual parking Karma in front which took all my excuses away.

    Thanks for the enthusiastic post today.


    Wonder what Zim did that ab and EC did not :wink: :wink:


    I was wondering the same thing. :wink:

    For those planning a visit soon, the chicken boti is excellent, but I'd highly recommend adding the excellent sikh kebabs or bihari kebabs to your order for a little red meat. Khan's really has a knack for spice balance and natural grill/oven flavors that come through in every dish.

    Thanks for the pics.

    Best,
    Michael / EC
  • Post #10 - June 7th, 2005, 7:34 am
    Post #10 - June 7th, 2005, 7:34 am Post #10 - June 7th, 2005, 7:34 am
    Vital Information wrote:Wonder what Zim did that ab and EC did not :wink: :wink:

    Rob,

    Zim unequivocally stating Khan's Chicken Boti is the "best kabob on the street" seemed pretty hard to resist.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #11 - June 7th, 2005, 8:30 am
    Post #11 - June 7th, 2005, 8:30 am Post #11 - June 7th, 2005, 8:30 am
    Cathy2 wrote:
    Thanks for the enthusiastic post today.


    yeah, I was little less subtle this time, after all I had posted on the boti a couple times before. I think what motivated me was in the past I've highlighted a place for a couple specific dishes and folks have gone, had something else and come away unimpressed

    sorry 'bout the confusion on times.

    Though I understand c8w's practice of avoiding devon on the weekend, especially in light of what a pain in the a** it's become to park, This past weekend, I visited twice and it was buzzing, people gathering around coconut juice/cream vendors, women in saris eating kulfi as they strode, families shopping, and I really enjoyed the people watching/scene as much as the food.
  • Post #12 - June 7th, 2005, 8:46 am
    Post #12 - June 7th, 2005, 8:46 am Post #12 - June 7th, 2005, 8:46 am
    Cathy2 wrote:I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept


    If Khan's were located in one of the highway oases - it would almost complete the dhaba-ness (it would help if it were open all night)

    My concept of dhaba - please correct
    Suppose you had been driving six hours, it was 2am and you still had five hundred miles to go. You pull up to the 'oasis' and it has a spot like Khan's. What heaven would be the synergy of the smells and moment! And when the food came it would not only rejuvenate but comfort and energize you to finish your journey. Even make you feel like making the trip again just to eat there...
    If the dhaba is good - it doesn't have to be 2am and you may have driven only 2 miles. The smells will stop you - the food will bring you back.

    It's barely 9am and I long for some ChknBoti and Lassi (unsweetened) right now - Thanks Zim, GWiv, C2, (ab, EC) :)! - but no thanks :evil: )
  • Post #13 - June 7th, 2005, 9:32 am
    Post #13 - June 7th, 2005, 9:32 am Post #13 - June 7th, 2005, 9:32 am
    zim wrote:
    Though I understand c8w's practice of avoiding devon on the weekend, especially in light of what a pain in the a** it's become to park, This past weekend, I visited twice and it was buzzing, people gathering around coconut juice/cream vendors, women in saris eating kulfi as they strode, families shopping, and I really enjoyed the people watching/scene as much as the food.


    Yeah, if you can deal with the pain of parking, I love the weekends on Devon as well. The smells, buzz and feel is half the fun. Its as close to Multan I'll get until I get back to Pakistan (or go to Queens).

    Good to see Khan getting some visits - I agree with Zim on the Chicken Boti, and also love the Chapli and Seehk kabobs. Almost all the meat on the menu is fantastic.

    ab
  • Post #14 - June 7th, 2005, 10:25 am
    Post #14 - June 7th, 2005, 10:25 am Post #14 - June 7th, 2005, 10:25 am
    What's a good place for a roll? Please, I mean food. Essentially a kabab or kathi kabab roll. I stepped into Kababish of London sometime a year ago, ordered one and was quite disappointed - both by the filling and the limp paratha/roti. (I see also a lukewarm thread here)

    A really good roll needs a nice crispy mughlai paratha - the malaysian 'roti' available in freezer sections is a fair substitute - and excellent kabab filling. The problem with procuring the components separately is having to reheat one of them. I haven't tried Khan's.

    A description of the rolls I yearn for is here (third paragraph on that page) -which I got through Zim's post here (click on 'here' and then on the Kolkata link) [Thanks Zim - great links]
  • Post #15 - June 7th, 2005, 1:34 pm
    Post #15 - June 7th, 2005, 1:34 pm Post #15 - June 7th, 2005, 1:34 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept


    If Khan's were located in one of the highway oases - it would almost complete the dhaba-ness (it would help if it were open all night)


    Almost, but not quite, probably :-)

    My concept of dhaba - please correct
    Suppose you had been driving six hours, it was 2am and you still had five hundred miles to go. You pull up to the 'oasis' and it has a spot like Khan's. What heaven would be the synergy of the smells and moment! And when the food came it would not only rejuvenate but comfort and energize you to finish your journey. Even make you feel like making the trip again just to eat there...
    If the dhaba is good - it doesn't have to be 2am and you may have driven only 2 miles. The smells will stop you - the food will bring you back.


    I agree with all of the above - bustling, packed, food smells etc. But for me the
    whole idea of it, for some reason, is the Punjabi dhaba, or those on the highways
    up North in India. Even the ones elsewhere in INdia arent quite seen as "dhabas" in
    my head for some reason :-) Maybe they can fulfill the criterion in terms of
    food (would be nice if they could reach the right standard for that itself :-),
    but the atmosphere would be almost impossible to duplicate.

    A lot of it is the atmosphere, the location, the physical look of the place. Rickety
    little places, a lot of the time. Mostly open-air. Eating at tables under the
    shade of a banyan tree (or any tree I suppose) A bunch of hefty
    hard-charging Punjabi truck-drivers enjoying their food nearby (these are
    a different breed, and vital to the atmosphere. These are the guys who drive
    beatup old trucks for 12-16 hours a day . Really old trucks, nobody had ever
    heard of "cruise control"... these are the guys who invented their own version
    of it, they put a big ol brick on the gas pedal, prop it in place with a stick pushing
    up against the seat, and drive. If they need to slow or stop - which is to be
    avoided if possible - they'll knock the stick away. The number who have died
    on the highways doing this have never been counted, must run into the
    thousands :-)

    A friend was telling me a story a while ago, he was about 17 (a good healthy
    growing boy), was at a dhaba in Punjab with his dad. They ordered a
    "chotti lassI' - a small lassi. It arrived - in a glass that was narrow at the
    bottom and widening towards the top, and was the length of his forearm
    (he indicated it was from his elbow to about halfway up his palm :-) The
    two of them, father and son, used 2 straws and shared it, and were
    struggling to get through it together. And in walks this truckdriver, orders
    2 fullsized lassis, and knocks them back right there in a few minutes before
    driving off again. All this is part of what makes a dhaba a dhaba :-)

    A very "hot" restaurant in Bombay for a while when it first arrived was
    "Pritam-da-dhaba" - it still does very well, though the "buzz" has moved onto
    to something else, as it does every couple of weeks. They try and
    recreate some of it - they have a proper "restaurant", air-conditioned with
    good tables and the rest of it. But you can opt to not eat there in the
    "dining room", but rather walk thru the restaurant to the back. And out back
    there is a huge courtyard - surrounded by buildings on all sides, but a
    massive square area in between. Here they have a few trees dotted
    around, and lots of more rickety tables. Some of them are lower tables,
    and these have "divans" where you can sit, with those long cylinderical
    cushions to support your back (Cathy saw a pretty good version of this
    sort of seating at Jewel of India - except that was a lot more upscale, with
    white tablecloths etc IIRC) . A few others tables have "chaarpoys" in front of
    the tables - a rural "bed" of sorts, basically a wooden 4-legs and outer
    frame, with rope forming the actual sleeping surface - you sit on the
    khatiyas and eat (as they do up in the rural North). They even have a
    few road signs up between the tables, indicating "Ludhiana 600 kilometers"
    and so on. Its what theyve done to recreate, to the best of their ability,
    the atmosphere and look of the "Punjabi dhaba" in the rural north - and its a pretty
    fair attempt right in the middle of a cosmopolitan city thousands of miles away.
    If its a pleasant Bombay-winter evening, and youre sitting under the stars
    and trees and eating sarson ka saag and butter chicken at Pritam-da-dhaba (and
    its a courtyard, so you cant even see the road), and looking at road signs for
    Ludhiana and Chandigarh... well, even then you cant quite fool yourself into
    thinking youre actually at a dhaba in Punjab, but you at least have a better shot
    at it than if you were in their air-conditioned dining room only a few yards away :-)

    Ok, I dont know why I bothered to write all that. Just googled, and found a link to
    a small piece on Pritam-da-dhaba (and dhabas in general) by Busybee, here:
    http://www.busybeeforever.com/viewart.a ... =eatingout


    c8w
  • Post #16 - June 7th, 2005, 1:51 pm
    Post #16 - June 7th, 2005, 1:51 pm Post #16 - June 7th, 2005, 1:51 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

    Clearly Zim, you made quite an attractive post to get at least two people motivated. I am still struggling to understand the dhaba concept, but I will return again soon during a more heavier trafficked period to understand better. .


    BTW, posted a link to dhabas in general elsewhere. Here is another, also from
    Busybee, with some more about it (and also about their relationship to
    gas-stations - not the kind with just doritos and twinkies in em, either :-)

    http://www.busybeeforever.com/viewart.a ... wanderlust

    c8w
  • Post #17 - June 7th, 2005, 2:46 pm
    Post #17 - June 7th, 2005, 2:46 pm Post #17 - June 7th, 2005, 2:46 pm
    btw, some of the trucks themselves are remarkable works of art. Here are a few images from the web:

    Image

    Image

    Image
  • Post #18 - June 7th, 2005, 4:27 pm
    Post #18 - June 7th, 2005, 4:27 pm Post #18 - June 7th, 2005, 4:27 pm
    Ha Ha :D
    If I saw trucks like that on Devon, it might make the traffic more bearable :evil:

    Like c8w, I try and avoid the crowds. People watching sometimes is okay, but if I'm trying to shop, they get in my way :x
    Usually I can make it only on a weekend, so 9am works. Which is why I haven't really sampled too many places (disappointments haven't helped either). Late works for food - I tried HH recently - but not for shopping.
  • Post #19 - June 7th, 2005, 8:09 pm
    Post #19 - June 7th, 2005, 8:09 pm Post #19 - June 7th, 2005, 8:09 pm
    I should add that the VI family almost always visits Da'Bomb on the weekends, and while urban, I never find it overwhelming, and I never find it *that* tough to park. Really 8) It helps that we love walking the street, so you can never park "far away."

    Rob
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #20 - June 7th, 2005, 8:27 pm
    Post #20 - June 7th, 2005, 8:27 pm Post #20 - June 7th, 2005, 8:27 pm
    More Trucks that I saw at the Folk Life Festival in DC a couple of years ago:
    Image

    Image

    And i'll add a vote for the splendor of the chicken boti at Khan. When I was there last I also had a really great carrot/rice pudding for dessert that I would eat again in a heartbeat. I asked about the last item on the tandoor menu, tandoori cham, and was told that it's horse ribs cooked in the tandoor, but that it wasn't available. Hmmm...
  • Post #21 - June 7th, 2005, 8:35 pm
    Post #21 - June 7th, 2005, 8:35 pm Post #21 - June 7th, 2005, 8:35 pm
    Seth Zurer wrote:. I asked about the last item on the tandoor menu, tandoori cham, and was told that it's horse ribs cooked in the tandoor, but that it wasn't available. Hmmm...


    Would you eat horsemeat? I do not think I would. Besides dog (and house cat, but who eats house cat*), I cannot think of another animal I would not eat.

    *No jokes, no rumours, no I heard I heard stuff...
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #22 - June 7th, 2005, 9:35 pm
    Post #22 - June 7th, 2005, 9:35 pm Post #22 - June 7th, 2005, 9:35 pm
    Actually, I think I would only have actual qualms about primates. Horse wouldn't bother me more than goat.

    I have to admit, when I heard that report on NPR about the long-thought-extinct woodpecker that was rediscovered in the Bayou, I started to get a bit hungry. And how I would have loved to have been in the fish market in Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia that day. Sushi for everybody!
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  • Post #23 - June 8th, 2005, 12:52 am
    Post #23 - June 8th, 2005, 12:52 am Post #23 - June 8th, 2005, 12:52 am
    Vital Information wrote:
    Seth Zurer wrote:. I asked about the last item on the tandoor menu, tandoori cham, and was told that it's horse ribs cooked in the tandoor, but that it wasn't available. Hmmm...


    Would you eat horsemeat? I do not think I would. Besides dog (and house cat, but who eats house cat*), I cannot think of another animal I would not eat.

    *No jokes, no rumours, no I heard I heard stuff...


    Rob:

    Back in the '80's I ate my share of horsemeat while living in Belgium (I've possibly mentioned this elsewhere: at the time, there was both a butcher shop that specialised in horsemeat and a restaurant that did so as well, the one on and the other near the Oude Markt in Leuven)... Poverty drove me to it but it is very tasty meat...

    Now, when is that tandoori cham going to be available again?

    :P

    A
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.
  • Post #24 - June 8th, 2005, 9:02 am
    Post #24 - June 8th, 2005, 9:02 am Post #24 - June 8th, 2005, 9:02 am
    Here's another link to an article and some fantastic photos of the colorful buses of India/Pakistan...

    http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/2 ... kistan.htm
  • Post #25 - June 8th, 2005, 1:38 pm
    Post #25 - June 8th, 2005, 1:38 pm Post #25 - June 8th, 2005, 1:38 pm
    very cool site, thanks.

    while we're on this subject and off the chicken boti here's one for The Ricksha Arts of Bangladesh

    Image
    Last edited by zim on July 24th, 2011, 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  • Post #26 - June 9th, 2005, 9:27 am
    Post #26 - June 9th, 2005, 9:27 am Post #26 - June 9th, 2005, 9:27 am
    sazerac wrote:What's a good place for a roll? Please, I mean food. Essentially a kabab or kathi kabab roll. I stepped into Kababish of London sometime a year ago, ordered one and was quite disappointed - both by the filling and the limp paratha/roti. (I see also a lukewarm thread here)

    A really good roll needs a nice crispy mughlai paratha - the malaysian 'roti' available in freezer sections is a fair substitute - and excellent kabab filling. The problem with procuring the components separately is having to reheat one of them. I haven't tried Khan's.


    Some time ago, this would have been an easy recommendation for me:

    Lucky Kabab and Nehari House
    6260 N Broadway
    Chicago
    (773) 338-3400

    I had really liked their rolls when they had been named Broadway kabob and knew some pakistani fellas who would travel from st. louis almost exclusively to have some. I went less often after they changed their name but still thought it was the best place for a roll, for some reason I haven't been in a long time, if you want to experiment it may be worth a shot, I'd probably call first and make sure they are still in business, though.

    I did find some really nice praise for their breads in general from RST on the other board - of course how you would know it I don't know as it is in a post titled "Re(1): Trio -- Wine Pairings for TdF + Hi to the board"


    sazerac wrote:A description of the rolls I yearn for is here (third paragraph on that page) -which I got through Zim's post here (click on 'here' and then on the Kolkata link) [Thanks Zim - great links]


    They've done a few more of those reports that weren't included in the link above, here are a few of them

    Moveable Feast - The Konkan Comeback

    AMRITSAR: A Culinary Journey

    Amritsari Street Food - Fat of the Land

    Kodava Food - Currying Flavour

    Lucknow - Remains Of The Day

    Andhra Food - The Delicious Deccan

    Karnataka - Flavour Of The Bunt

    Moveable Feast - Neighbour's Flavours (Sri Lanka)
  • Post #27 - June 14th, 2005, 11:29 am
    Post #27 - June 14th, 2005, 11:29 am Post #27 - June 14th, 2005, 11:29 am
    On Friday we sampled the chicken boti at Khan's. It was very salty - maybe a batch of that marinade got an accidental double dose or the marinade may not have been stirred well. But the chicken was very very tender and succulent - almost melt in the mouth-ish.

    Zim, the phone number to Lucky Kabab house is no longer in service. I'm glad you mentioned calling ahead. I forgot to check if they still exist, being full from the food at Khan's.
  • Post #28 - June 16th, 2005, 5:30 pm
    Post #28 - June 16th, 2005, 5:30 pm Post #28 - June 16th, 2005, 5:30 pm
    sazerac,

    sorry to hear about your experience with the boti, fwiw, mine have never been overly salty. I did some looking around and it turns out lucky kabob was replaced by aromatherapy products
  • Post #29 - July 25th, 2005, 9:52 pm
    Post #29 - July 25th, 2005, 9:52 pm Post #29 - July 25th, 2005, 9:52 pm
    Inspired by some conversation with AB, a big fan of the Khan BBQ, I made it up to Devon after work tonight.

    The owner took one look at us, calculated us to be unsuspecting white folk, and clearly wanted to point us to Hema's across the street, saying, "our food is very spicy". We knew better and insisted we would be ok.

    We ordered the Chicken Boti, Seekh Kabab, Aloo Palak, and Daal, along with some Naan.

    The naan was white,puffy, slightly charred and smokey.

    The bbq items did not disappoint. The chicken boti was everything promised above in this forum and paired very well with the cooling sauce served earlier. The kabab was redolent with spices and some hints of jalapeno.

    The daal was very creamy and garnished with fresh spring cilantro bits, while the Aloo palaak was filled with firm potatoes and rich hearty spinach.

    The spices in collective snuck up at the end of the meal, but it was in no way a barrier or overpowering, actually just the right amount. I look forward to making my way through all the grill items in the future.

    Finally for the less than hearty LTH folks, Khan BBQ is a straight up no frills, old storefront with red bench seating circa 1985 McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken. There is no air conditioning, and on a day like today (90+) with the BBQ coals in full the flame, the rickety general issue floor fan offered very little circulation. No big deal for most folks on this forum, but the wife who is a hearty sort and generally always willing to go in search of the meal showed a few cracks today.

    Though, indeed, one must always be in the service of the transcendant food experience.
  • Post #30 - October 10th, 2005, 3:24 pm
    Post #30 - October 10th, 2005, 3:24 pm Post #30 - October 10th, 2005, 3:24 pm
    As noted above, I had tried the chicken boti at Khan BBQ a while back, but was glad to go back today with a few other folks and try a wider variety of things.

    I have to say, Khan BBQ may have about the best ratio of crappy decor to outstanding food in the city. I actually thought the boti was one of the lesser items we ordered, not that it wasn't perfectly enjoyable.

    Someone else may have to correct my memory of what we had, or provide the Pakistani names (UPDATE: I spotted the photo of the menu above and have added names), but it included:

    - Chicken boti
    - Spinach dish with little kernels of corn in it, very spicy (though GWiv spiced his up further) (Daal Palak)
    - A nice grilled ground lamb kabab (Seekh Kabab)
    - A fantastic tandoori goat chop dish, which we all suspected was really tender, non-gamey lamb, in a nice reversal of the usual thing where they say mutton to us gringos and mean goat (Tandoori Cham)
    - A stew with garbanzo beans in it which had a surprisingly rich smoky flavor and was my second favorite (Chana Masala)
    - Roti with ground beef in it
    - Roti with potatoes in it
    - Onion naan
    - Plain paratha

    All in all, one of the best meals I've had on Devon in a long time. The next time someone says buffet I will really try to steer them here, despite the total lack of ambience. Hopefully someone else will provide the names to help first-timers know what to get...
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