In search of sahur breakfast during Ramadan ...

Hi,

Several years ago I organized a spurt of events with the theme of dead early breakfasts with people congregating as early as 5 AM for breakfast. This week our dead early visit to Baba Palace was revived with jygach making the most intriguing comment:

I am very familiar with foods served during Ramadan, but not with what reataurants on Devon may be serving. I will call a few tomorrow and get some specifics. Could be a fun early morning outing.

In the background, we began corresponding to compare notes. Jyoti had phoned several restaurants on Devon with no success. On a whim I called the Muslim Cultural Center on Elston who didn't know who offered what I wanted, though I could try downtown. I got an affirmative when I suggested he meant the taxi restaurants around Orleans and Chicago. I called Baba Palace who said they had Ramadan breakfast from 4 AM to 5 AM sharp. Until this moment, I was contemplating a leisurely 5:30 AM meet-up so this was a real awakening.

3:00 AM - I awaken to dress immediately, then head out the door to my friend Helen's home.

3:15 AM - I am in Helen's driveway with no evidence of life or any light in her household. Around 3:20 I was about to give up when a shadowy figure came out her front door.

3:35 AM - Driving to the Edens Plaza to collect Jyoti was all one-lane due to construction on the Edens. The only car behind me is the State Police who was tailgating me while I drive 45 MPH to avoid his ticket. When we picked up Jyoti, she already had an interaction with the police, too. Sitting in the vast parking lot a police officer inquired if she needed any help. She begged off because she was waiting for her friends. We laughed quite a bit wondering what the police were thinking. We laughed even harder when we thought how they might react to our real plan!

4:00 AM - There were several tables of people eating when we arrived to Baba Palace. Jyoti speaking in Urdu to the counterman inquired about the special breakfast foods for Ramadan. "What do you expect? If what we have here is special, then that is your food for Ramadan. Otherwise this is our menu from Friday." Of course the guy you talk to at 3 PM Friday is not the same person you encounter at 4 AM. We gave each other 'The Look' then agreed to stay.

We ordered Mutton Biryani, Karahi Chicken and three kinds of naan: Rogni naan (topped with olive oil and sesame seeds), Onion naan and Keema naan (studded with ground beef and spices). I then reminded the counterman I had been there two years before, ordered tea I never got and was promised a free tea on my next visit. "Oh of course, it was just two years ago we forgot to give you your tea! Naturally, we give you the tea you paid for two years ago!" You can imagine his response was laced with sarcasm. It got even a bit funnier, when I reminded him that Helen was also due a hot tea. He then went on to proclaim what a wonderful businessman he was giving us the tea from two years ago. While he may be a new employee to Baba Palace he recognized the dollar of tea just given away might bring him future customers. Of course, I did remind him he had not given it away, but after two years it was finally served! We all laughed as we paid up, then waited for our food.



We were reminded the favored style of eating is by your hand, when we received china plates and plastic cutlery. At the table next to us, a gentleman was eating in the traditional method by hand. While the food may not have been Ramadan specific, we finished our meal.

4:45 AM - We are tooling up Lake Shore Drive to Devon Avenue to learn which businesses are open and ready to serve breakfast specific for Ramadan.

5:10 AM - We see Lahore Food & Grill bustling. As we approach the door about a dozen young men come streaming out the door. We walk to the counter to learn they close at 5 AM during Ramadan and open again at 5 PM. This may also be their hours the balance of the year, because I remember there are restaurants on Devon with similar business hours. Lahore also does not serve food specific to Ramadan breakfasts.

5:15 AM - We proceed to down to Devon passing Hyderabad House, which is open 24 hours, then backed up to visit them anyway. This was a very good instinct because Hyderabad House offers an early morning breakfast buffet for Ramadan from 3:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Unfortunately they had already packed up and were preparing to close until evening because of Ramadan:



We found ourselves talking to the owner of Hyderabad House, which gave me an opportunity to inquire about the Hyderbad House Family Restaurant across the street. The new restaurant is scheduled to open next Friday, though there will be no opening party due to Ramadan. When I inquired if women and families would be welcome at the exisiting Hyderabad House, I learned the backstory for the new restaurant: Indian women would either not go into Hyderabad House or they would order food to eat in their cars. While he welcomes women to the restaurant, they are intimidated by all the men. He often has families dining at his restaurant and they will always be welcome. The new location was to address an audience who were not comfortable with the nearly all-male customer of the existing restaurant.

Thrilled with our prize information, we headed west on Devon looking for more restaurants. We saw a few convenience stores but no more restaurants open. However if we had come before 5 AM, which seems to be the Ramadan related universal closing hour, then maybe there may be a more.

Earlier on Devon Avenue, before reaching the core business area, we did see a Mexican restaurant open. This got us in the mood for hot chocolate and churros. While I wasn't keen on backtracking, I proposed we go to the only Kosher Dunkin' Donuts on Devon. After we apparently blew past it, we were hit with a reminder: if it is indeed Kosher, then it would not be open on Saturday due to Sabbath.

5:45 AM - We stopped by New York Bagel and Bialy, which allowed Helen to get some breakfast for her family.

5:59 AM - We were still missing a final bite, which the hot chocolate and churros had inspired. I proposed going to Jack's Restaurant on Skokie for the thick cut "Slab" bacon, which we suspect is deep fat fried. We arrived to Jack's to find the interior lights on and the street sign turned off. We had to watch someone adjust the rug before we were allowed in.

Once in we ordered their slab bacon, potato pancakes and cheese blintzes that are no longer homemade despite what the menu advises. Contemplated the biscuits and gravy until I learned the biscuits are not baked on the premises. Helen ordered a hot chocolate, I had their fresh squeezed orange juice and Jyoti stuck to water.



It was not yet 7 AM when we left Jack's. Dropped off Jyoti to her car, took Helen home and then myself to mine. By 7:30, I was dozing back to sleep listening to the news on the radio.

A full day was still ahead of all of us after a pretty full morning adventure!

Baba Palace
334 West Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: 312/867-7777
http://www.babapalace.com

Dunkin' Donuts
3132 W. Devon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
773-2624560

Jack's Restaurant
5201 West Touhy Avenue
Skokie, IL 60077
847/674-5532

Hyderabad House
2225 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-381-1230

Lahore Grill
2114-16 West Devon
Chicago, IL
773/761-4919

New York Bagel and Bialy
4714 W Touhy Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60646
847- 677-9388

Sounds like a fun morning. I am getting indegestion just thinking about it.

Did you inquire about what was included on the saher buffet that made it different from what you might expect during normal hours?

Hi,

We asked, but I have say I wasn't listening carefully. I'm hoping Jyoti will fill in the cracks on the food offered.

Regards,

awesome adventure... ill hit up devon after sundown tonight maybe and see what they are cooking up

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Orleans and Chicago. I called Baba Palace who said they had Ramadan breakfast from 4 AM to 5 AM sharp. Until this moment, I was contemplating a leisurely 5:30 AM meet-up so this was a real awakening.

5:15 AM - We proceed to down to Devon passing Hyderabad House, which is open 24 hours, then backed up to visit them anyway. This was a very good instinct because Hyderabad House offers an early morning breakfast buffet for Ramadan from 3:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Unfortunately they had already packed up and were preparing to close until evening because of Ramadan:
However if we had come before 5 AM, which seems to be the Ramadan related universal closing hour, then maybe there may be a more.

All these restaurants will stop serving before sun-up (which is when the fast
is supposed to begin)... so by 5:30am nowdays all eating and drinking is
already wrapped up Thus, if youre getting to Devon past 5am nowadays,
most of these places wont be serving anymore. Breaking of the fast
occurs just after 6:30 pm nowadays, so thats when they'll start serving
food again.

I was at Devon tonight (to pick up some Haleem, actually - Haleem is prepared
by some places on Devon on Fridays, but its available every-day during
Ramadan). I recalled that Haleem used to be good at Daata Durbar last year, so
stopped in there (and, at 10pm, it was already sold out... which probably means
its good at DD this year too Anyway. While there I inquired about Saher -
Daata Durbar is serving a buffet starting 2:30am for 6.99, including 8 items
which vary daily. (DD usually serves buffets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
evenings only during the year - only during Ramadan are they serving it
every day, Id presume with similar items served). Id say DD is worth looking
at for Saher as a "late-late dinner" - the food ought to be nice and fresh
at 2:30am

Hyderabad House, as you noted, starts their Saher buffet later - it begins
closer to 3:30ish. Theirs is 5.99, and it has 6 "salnas", they said (which is
basically gravy-items), plus dahi-vada etc. I didnt check, but Iam sure the
other usual suspects are doing Saher too.. Delhi Durbar, Ghareeb Nawaz
et al. And, downtown, Baba Place plus the others (Kabab Corner probably,
as well as the other cabbie joints..Daavat et al).

BTW, in re the Haleem search - both Daata and HH are making it every
day. I ended up picking mine up from Chopal, where it is also a daily special
this month (Haleem and Dahi-Vada are their specials for Ramadan).. it
was quite the steal at 2.99 for the Haleem, and it was pretty good too
(though a little low on the salt, as he had warned me - he said most people
were asking for low-salt for health reasons nowadays, and so thats how
it had been prepared Very much worth picking up if youre in the
vicinity. (I didnt ask Chopal about Saher - Iam sure they dont have it,
they close a little before midnight usually)

c8w

Gotta love a saher (or saheri) that ends with slab bacon.

I'll ditto c8w's comments about DD's haleem -- when I was visiting Chicago last year I very much enjoyed theirs.

As a spectator from a place not blessed with a Devon, I'd also be interested to see y'alls reports on iftaar samplings.

Nab

c8w,

My new-found experience: the restaurants were closing at 5 AM with only guests lingering. I have to admit I had visions of people eating breakfast right up to sun up. I didn't realize it was really before twilight commenced.

I called Hyderabad House yesterday to reconfirm that Saher begins at 3 AM ... but if you know different, then please advise. At that hour, arriving at 3 AM or 3:30 AM is a big deal.

Thanks for the information on the other restaurants saher service. By the time we arrived in the area on Saturday it was already too late.

Regards,

Cathy, do you mean chorizos-- sausages-- or churros (long thin doughnut-like things?)

Cathy2 wrote:My new-found experience: the restaurants were closing at 5 AM with only guests lingering. I have to admit I had visions of people eating breakfast right up to sun up. I didn't realize it was really before twilight commenced.

Cathy, there is a prayer that commences right at the beginning of dawn, which is why things are wrapping up a little bit earlier. I would suspect that the closer to 5am, the closer you are to getting the tail-end of the food. I would think about 4am would be the sweet spot.

Ifthar note:

KhanBBQ continues to do the free ifthar for the fasting masses. Includes Dates, Choleh Chaat, Fruit Chaat, Fried Chicken, Pakoras, Pullow and I'm forgetting the name, but the yogurt/dairy-based dish w/ the fried chunks of Besan dough floating in it...

Real dinner at Khan's starts around 7:15pm - that's around when the restaurant fully opens.

Eid is likely going to be next Saturday (possibly Friday, but I'm thinking Saturday).

Haleem - Usmaniya is also serving Haleem, although they might serve it everyday anyway?

I think Khan will make it on special request, so you'd have to order a lot, but he'll make it.

Mike G wrote:Cathy, do you mean chorizos-- sausages-- or churros (long thin doughnut-like things?)

I will go back to edit in the correction.

Regards,

Driving up Clark yesterday I saw that churros and hot chocolate are available at the business one door south of Panaderia Ayutla. It may be an expansion of PA. There is writing on the glass window indicating the menu.
Approximate location, N. Clark St, between Touhy and Pratt.

Panaderia Ayutla
6963 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 764-9077

ab wrote:Haleem - Usmaniya is also serving Haleem, although they might serve it everyday anyway?

They do, and it's very, very good.

ab wrote:Ifthar note:

KhanBBQ continues to do the free ifthar for the fasting masses. Includes Dates, Choleh Chaat, Fruit Chaat, Fried Chicken, Pakoras, Pullow and I'm forgetting the name, but the yogurt/dairy-based dish w/ the fried chunks of Besan dough floating in it...

Thank you for this information. Thursday evening, Helen, Josephine and I showed up to partake in Khan's ifthar. While the fast broke at 6:30 PM, I arrived maybe ten minutes later. The place was absolutely packed with every table filled with families as well as individual diners sharing tables. The large flat screen television had images of the faithful in Mecca with streaming banners advising break fast times in major cities of North America.

Due to our late arrival some foods were already spent, but we still got a good cross-section though chicken and rose milk are not pictured:



As quickly as the room had filled, it also began to vacate. By the time we had finished more than 75% of the people had moved on. Josephine suggested we thank Mr. Khan for the ifthar. When Josephine offered to make a donation, Mr. Khan responded, "This Ifthar was my gift to Allah" declining her offer.

We moved on to Usmania to order Haleem, which is on their daily menu:



We later learned from jygach our order of naan to accompany this wasn't necessary. It is eaten as-is, while we smeared it on naan to eat. Haleem's long cooking process disintegrates the meat and beans to the texture of gruel. If there had not been so much discussion of this dish, I might not have sought it out. I was certainly glad I did, though next time I will not necessarily eat it with naan.

Walking back to our cars, I found a Muslim weekly newspaper with an intriguing ad: "Ramadan Chicken Drive." For an $8 donation, a chicken (presumably Halaal) would be donated to a poor family in your neighborhood. I liked how this charity drive was conducted with a modest donation providing your neighbor a suitable meal. There is more information here and here. I hope this small entry fee nets them lots of donations.

Again, thanks for the information.

Regards,

I would recommend that you don't miss trying Kataif (sp: Kataifi?), a treat associated with breaking the Ramadan fast in the evening:



Shown above is a walnut kataif; it has a perfect blend of nut and cinnamon flavors.

Nazareth Sweets
4638 N Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60625
773-463-2457

Hi,

Our meeting ritual was approximately the same as the OP, except one hour earlier than the week before. Helen simply never went to bed expecting to sleep through the alarm. Josephine, Jygach and I had at least 3 or more hours sleep.

We arrived to Hyderabad House just after 3 AM when they were setting up the buffet.



Only one dish was specific to Ramadan that seemed to match ab's description: "Yogurt/dairy-based dish w/ the fried chunks of Besan dough floating in it..."



When one is visiting a restaurant during off-peak hours, you sometimes get an opportunity to see back of house preparations. On this occasion, they had a mini-production line making paan, which I hope someone will describe in detail. It is a mixture of spices & herbs that can be tuned to be sweet, spicy or even a tabacco taste wrapped in a betel leaf:




I will admit to having no interest in trying paan after once tasting one at the closing minutes of the long ago Western-athon. When Josephine did not grimace or go yuck, then I gave it a try. This paan was tuned sweet with coconut, tamarind paste and spices.

Briefly met the owner of Hyderabad House who reported a good first day at Hyderabad Family Restaurant the day before. He commented the menu has some foods not offered at the original location, which he thought might be of interest.

We left Hyderabad House around 4 AM, which was really when customers were settling into their meal. This reflected the advice of tatterdemalion, though 3 AM does sound more adverturous!

Jygach made an interesting observation, "If someone had suggested meeting for breakfast at 8 AM, I would have considered it early. Here I am having already finished breakfast by 4 AM." I countered, "It appears 4 AM is the new 8 AM," which caused all of us to laugh at our new standard of early.

We dropped into the other Saher buffet identifed by c8w as Daata Durbar who serves a buffet starting 2:30am for 6.99, including 8 items which vary daily. I walked down the buffet line checking all the dishes to find almost the exact same variety as Hyderabad House. There was one exception of a picked over Biryani of some type.

We then drove to Midway Airport with a detour to Pulaski Avenue to show the group where Five Continents/International Club was located and apparently had closed. I would verify this 16 hours later when there was a security guard present. We then drove south to Archer toward the airport with the nickel tour including Gilmer (Polish) market, Szalas Polish Restaurant and Bobak's Deli.

Once Josephine was discharged, we set out for a little dessert of donuts. We were heading toward Huck Finn until we saw Bridgeport Bakery was open just after 5 AM. We bought bacon buns, pastries and saw them packing the order for a certain downtown restaurant. The pastries in that box were not what was displayed, we learned they are made to that client's recipes. It was delightful to buy all the bacon buns desired without a pre-order:



We never did reach Huck Finn, though we did detour to Pilsen to find Don Pedro's Carnitas was open before 6 AM. I remain very impressed by the brain tacos at 5 for $2, which we first learned about at the Last Minute-athon. I shared these with Jygach, though Helen opted out on the breakfast of champions: brain tacos!



Arriving as early as we did, we saw the kitchen at full bustle. Heavy trays of carnitas rolling past us. Ropes of freshly made chorizo waiting for a new home. Chicharron waiting to be tucked into for a snack.





Don Pedro's opening at 5 AM is for Saturday. Otherwise they open at 6 AM. It certainly is a fabulous destination for an early breakfast.

At 6:30 AM BomBon Bakery may have workers inside, but the doors do not open until a rather late 7 AM. We did enjoy their altar to Day of the Dead (forgive the flash):



For one last bit of excitement before heading home, we walked across the street to Tortilleria Sabinas next to Nuevo Leon. We watched the tacos fly off the conveyor, then packed by hand into bags. There is a small film clip on youtube.com you can see here.

We all made it to our respective homes by 7:30 AM and back to bed. Josephine's plane wasn't leaving until 8 AM, which by then I was fast asleep.

BonBom Bakery
1508 W 18th St
Chicago, IL, 60608
(312) 733-7788

Bridgeport Bakery
2907 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 523-1121

Daata Darbar and Grill Restaurant
2241 W Devon Ave
Chicago IL 60659
Ph: 773-262-7330

Huck Finn Donuts & Snack Shops
3414 S Archer Ave,
Chicago
(773) 247-5515
www.huckfinnrestaurants.com

Hyderabad House
2225 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-381-1230

Tortilleria Sabinas
1509 W 18th St
Chicago, IL, 60608
(312) 738-2412



Regards,

Cathy, thanks for posting pictures of the stops I missed! BTW, I'll be heading back to Devon for paan. I loved the stuff-- but no tobacco for me.

If you want all of the oral cancer without any of that icky tobacco taste, make sure the paan contains supari. No idea if HH's paan guy uses it, but I'd ask.

Thanks for the heads-up on the supari, cilantro.

Hi,

Ramadan is being currently observed. Does any know if there are any restaurants or cultural organizations who offer a saher breakfast.

Our search a few years ago didn't really net any thing specific for saher. Maybe there is one now?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Forgive my ignorance, but I am curious to learn more about this saher breakfast. What are the components of a saher breakfast? I googled it but got linked back to lth!

sahur

cilantro wrote:sahur

Thanks, I'll make the necessary edits.

At least my error is qualified:

Apparently, it translates as the meal consumed early in the morning. I don't think you or they were in error in the spelling as wikipedia has listed several alternate spellings including Suhoor (Arabic: سحور lit. of the dawn‎), also called Sehri, Sahari and Sahur. So they were just calling it breakfast breakfast. Thanks!

na wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but I am curious to learn more about this saher breakfast. What are the components of a saher breakfast? I googled it but got linked back to lth!

The Arabic term is "suhoor" or "suhur", but urdu-speaking folk like my family refer to it as "seheri" quite often.

While I'm far from an expert, I can say that the contents of suhur vary from region to region and from family to family. . .and individually as well. The last couple of years I've settled on a Slimfast shake and a glass of water.

While living in the Middle East, most of my classmates would eat eggs, cheese and bread, and maybe some cereal. Another favorite was yogurt with honey, as some believe it helps stave off hunger pangs.

Speaking of hunger and pangs, it was a cruel day this week when I turned to the newspaper to distract myself from my Ramdan hunger and saw, of all things, Keving Pang's burger article, complete with mouth-watering burger-porn pictures.

Apparently, there is a God. . .and He has a wicked sense of humor.

Some calls to the Albany Park neighbourhood might pay dividends - I was at Salaam today & they were offering a special set dinner for Ramadan & mentioned that they expected to be very busy after sunset (t was empty at 5 pm, though it looked like they were busy with catering orders for later tonight). No idea how late they are planning to stay open, but it may be worth inquiring if they will be offering saher later. Also Nazareth Sweets was offering Katayef (stuffed with walnuts or cheese) for Ramadan iftar (& which I will be enjoying with my dinner tonight ;D)

ETA - my understanding is that there's rarely any specific components to saher, its more a recognition that you need to eat something early before starting to fast for the day. Iftar (the evening breaking of the fast) seems to have much more emphasis on traditional foods being served.

I noticed a sign recently in Tassili's window that they are now open 24 hours a day. I'm not sure if they offer food all 24, but you could call.

Tassili Cafe
4342 N. Elston
773-685-6773

Any one know of any good iftar places ?

Hi,

A chance encounter with Yvonne Maffei of MyHalalKitchen.com, I encouraged her to talk about Ramadan food rituals. You can find the podcast, which includes information on breakfast.

Regards,