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What is this Halal About?

By Allison Burch, July 31, 2011  |  Meet the Blogger  |  More Posts by Allison Burch
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS KERI FROM AUSTIN, TX, SUDHA FROM MINNEAPOLIS, MN, MICHELE FROM LOUISVILLE, KY, CHARLOTTE FROM EUCLID, OH AND JESSICA FROM HALETHROPE, MD.  THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS! Have you heard of halal? If so, you can skip ahead to the end and enter to win coupons for some tasty, convenient halal-certified prepared foods from Saffron Road. But if you’re scratching your head and asking, “What is this halal about?” Read on! Halal is Islamic dietary law that applies, among other things, to meat and poultry, specifically prescribing certain slaughtering and processing practices. Like some other religious dietary practice, halal prohibits pork and alcohol consumption. In order to provide more options to people following a halal diet, Saffron Road has created the first line of certified halal frozen entrees and they’re currently only available here at Whole Foods Market. Saffron Road features ethnic foods with Indian, Asian and Middle Eastern flavors, as well as chicken nuggets and tenders. All of their products are made with lamb and chicken raised on vegetarian diets, with no added hormones or antibiotics. Plus, all of their products are certified halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). Whether you eat halal because of your religious dietary guidelines or you simply prefer to choose food that’s made with high-quality, responsibly farmed ingredients, then Saffron Road has some tasty offerings for you. Take a look:

Lemongrass Basil Chicken

Roasted white-meat chicken simmered in a lemongrass and basil green curry with green peppers and onions.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Prepared with tender, boneless, chicken, and baked according to authentic traditions with freshly-ground tandoori spices simmered in a savory yogurt and tomato sauce.

Chicken Biryani

Traditionally prepared by cooking Basmati rice with succulent chunks of chicken, cashews and raisins infused with an unmistakable blend of enticing spices, aromas and flavors, including a pinch of saffron salt.

Moroccan Stew

Tender cubes of lamb slowly simmered with sweet potatoes, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and ginger until every drop is perfection. Since it tops delicious couscous, no drop is wasted.

Lamb Saag

Australian lamb slow-simmered with a blend of Indian spices, ginger and yogurt and served on a thick bed of savory Saag, a traditional spinach dish.

Lamb Vindaloo

A spicy Portuguese-Indian curry dish dating back to the 16th century. Australian lamb marinated in an exotic tamarind-infused curry sauce, cumin, hot Indian spices and yogurt, then slow simmered for hours until tender and tangy and served with Basmati rice.

Chicken Pad Thai

A delightful version of the Thai favorite featuring wide flat rice noodles topped with roasted white-meat chicken and simmered with carrots and scallions in an exotic peanut sauce.

Lamb Koftis

Lamb marinated in a secret recipe of the most classic spices, and then formed into traditional koftis, or meatballs. The finishing touch? It's served on a bed of aromatic long grain white rice.

Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Tenders, Chicken Bites and Tandoori Seasoned Chicken Nuggets

Made from the meat of chickens raised on a vegetarian diet and never given antibiotics, ever!

What a line up! Are you ready to try some Saffron Road? Good, because we're ready to give some away. We’ll pick five winners at random to receive five coupons for free Saffron Road entrees. To enter, leave a comment below by August 11 and tell us which of the entrees you’d try first and why.

 

291 Comments

Comments

danielle says ...
Thanks for this product cant wait to try
08/10/2011 3:20:35 PM CDT
Maria Torres says ...
I tried the Halal Saffron Road Chicken 'tandoori' and absolutely loved, mainly bought it because it was 'responsibly' produced, with humane treatment/raising/slaughtering of chicken, but am definitely going to purchase again because of the amazing flavor. Thank you for offering this product.
08/10/2011 3:31:03 PM CDT
Zoya Ahmad says ...
Well done Whole Foods! I'm proud of you for standing your ground while the right-wingers make their baseless comments, and I will definitely be shopping at Whole Foods this Ramadan and the next :)
08/10/2011 4:19:45 PM CDT
maria says ...
Thank you Wholefoods for Saffron Road! It is delicious and some of the products are gluton free but most of all my kids love it!!! Thank.
08/10/2011 4:27:07 PM CDT
ZM says ...
Finally... Looks good too. Gives me a reason to try whole foods.
08/10/2011 4:42:51 PM CDT
k says ...
definitely the chicken tenders. ooh and the pad thai. thanks
08/10/2011 4:51:39 PM CDT
carolyn says ...
Yum these new food sound good
08/10/2011 5:02:21 PM CDT
aisha manzoor says ...
I have tried the chicken biryani and chicken tikka masala, but now I want to venture out to possibly try the moroccan lamb stew, YUM! I went to WholeFoods today and as promised you kept your Ramadan promise and I saw the sale, so thank you so much for that! American Muslims really need some Ramadan lovin!
08/10/2011 5:26:07 PM CDT
Renee says ...
Hi.I have just read the article about Whole Foods not advertisting the holiday of Ramadan...I am appalled by this move as my kids (my kids,myself and generations before me were all born in the states and were not Muslim,so don't tell us to go back home) don't get to see decorations or signs ever about our holiday,but we are always forced to see Christmas stuff all over even though the US is not 100% Christian. *****WHAT IS HALAL?****** People are so afraid of halal,yet they don't even know what halal means....it's the way Jews and Christians are supposed to kill the animals,but not all of them do.We are supposed to kill the animal giving thanks to God for the animal,using a sharp knife so that it will not be tortured,you cannot kill the babies that are drinking from their mother,you cannpt kill the animal in front of other animals,they need to feel relaxed,they also cannot be fed other animals or hormones,etc....basically the same as organic.There are no weird things going on like people think,all that is said is "In the name of God"......I don't see people scared of Kosher meat,which we as Muslims can eat since they follow the way we do,so it's just something else people like to look for as a reason to hate us. Anyways,since Whole Foods wants to cater to a handful of ignorant people instead of speaking up for something that is right,I won't support Whole Foods anymore,so I ask all of you muslim and not,show them we don't tolerate dividing and ignoring people by not shopping there to show them that we are all Americans and there is nothing wrong with acknowledging a sacred holiday celebrated by many in this country.I ask people to do your research for yourself about our religion and don't let the media tell you what we believe....I wouldn't have converted to a religion that is so bad and neither would any other convert. Have a great day everybody...let's try to live together without causing conflicts when we don't need to,there's enough crazyness in the world right now.
08/10/2011 5:43:38 PM CDT
Bobby Hawley says ...
@Waqas, Saffron Road is nationally available at Whole Foods Market stores, however selection may vary from store to store. Contact the store to check that they have exactly what you want and if they don’t you can always request that they order it. Thanks!
08/10/2011 5:56:14 PM CDT
Bobby Hawley says ...
@HASINA OLUOMI, Saffron Road is nationally available at Whole Foods Market stores, however selection may vary from store to store. Contact the store to check that they have exactly what you want and if they don’t you can always request that they order it. Thanks!
08/10/2011 5:57:13 PM CDT
Sarah says ...
I am so excited about these meals! I can't wait to try them out!
08/10/2011 6:01:58 PM CDT
Loretta brewer says ...
I am Muslim. I would try the Moroccan stew. My husband is from Morocco and I have not eaten that in 20years.
08/10/2011 6:33:27 PM CDT
Samia says ...
Sounds delicious! Thank you whole foods for stepping out and officially recognizing Ramadan!
08/10/2011 6:39:55 PM CDT
Ahtesham Ahmed says ...
You guys are awesome for bringing us more choice in food. I have never been to wholefoods but I cant wait to become a customer. As a local Houston resident, I have tried all the basic Halal items such as the indian and pakistani dishes. Having variety of other types of food including asian, the lemongrass, nuggests is more enticing to me. Let the sky be your limit here. Differentiate!
08/10/2011 7:18:05 PM CDT
eh says ...
I've already tried the moroccan lamb stew and I'm in love...with a frozen dinner...who knew?!
08/10/2011 9:08:58 PM CDT
E. Said says ...
This sounds just terrific. I am going to buy and in fact stock up on that. That will save me a long drive to Fremont and Newark for halal meat and foods. Thanks Whole Foods.
08/10/2011 9:26:01 PM CDT
tugba says ...
I would like to try chicken tenders.
08/10/2011 10:01:07 PM CDT
hashir says ...
uhh i cant wait seriously....gonna go buy it tomorrow ....i hope it stays even after ramadan....I AM TIRED OF EATING SEA FOOD....GIVE ME MEAAAT!!!
08/11/2011 1:13:44 AM CDT
Emin Ozkan says ...
Thank you for serving halal products. I would like to try chicken tenders, best,
08/11/2011 6:59:25 AM CDT
Ali says ...
Thank you Whole Foods!!!! This is so awesome!
08/11/2011 1:19:53 PM CDT
Gulay says ...
Thank you for celebrating Ramadan!
08/11/2011 1:42:55 PM CDT
Sumayya S. says ...
Assalamu alaykum. I would love to try the Chicken Pad Thai, it looks wonderful! Can't wait to get my hands/mouth on it.
08/11/2011 1:53:28 PM CDT
Sumaira says ...
Thank you Whole foods for introducing this Halal range.This news is the best gift to us.We eat only halal meat.We always wanted to try Thai and European cuisines with chicken,lamb or beef but we were unable to (since they are mostly made with non halal meat).The alternate was a compromise home cooked attempt at these.However this is a blessing.I most certainly will like to try pad thai ,lemongrass basil chicken first.God Bless You!
08/11/2011 2:11:47 PM CDT
Amer says ...
Thank you WholeFoods for promoting Halal products you decided to sell. Nice to see a National big chain make a stand for the Muslim community. This is good business sense.
08/11/2011 2:36:36 PM CDT

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