What are "White Sauce" and "Red Sauce" at halal carts?

in #food7 years ago

In my area, "halal food" is a bowdlerized street vendor cuisine similar to Tex Mex or Americanized Chinese food. These carts generally serve chicken, lamb, and a variety of other proteins over rice with a salad on the side. The main sauces offered are white sauce, red sauce, and green sauce.

White sauce is not yogurt based. It's watered down mayonnaise. Red sauce is not harissa, which is an oily, thick and salty paste. Red sauce uses a dry, generic, hot pepper and is similar to Tabasco mixed with Maggi and curry powder. They're not going to splurge on habaneros or bird's eye chili. The rice is not basmati, nor is it cooked with saffron. It's carolina rice with annatto and maggi. For the record, the rice in Chinese takeout is not jasmine either. Its just a medium grain rice. Green sauce is available at some halal carts. It's a generic cilantro based sauce with vinegar.