Inside America’s Busiest Indian Pakistani Restaurant!! (4,000 People a Day)

I'm currently inside one of the biggest and busiest Indian-Pakistani restaurants in America.

And the kitchen is an unbelievable sight.

All these are the different karahis and curries that we'll be trying today.

People come from around the world to eat here.

And on any weekend night, we serve over 4,000 people per night.

But with huge crowds and non-stop cooking, how do they do it?

We're going to get a full behind-the-scenes tour.

And as we progress,

I'll be showing you 17 of their best Indian-Pakistani dishes you have to try.

I've never seen anything like this in the United States.

Hey everyone, it's Mark Wiens.

We made it.

Welcome to Houston, Texas, and I've just arrived at Aga's.

It's an Indian-Pakistani restaurant known to be one of the busiest

and the biggest Indian-Pakistani restaurants in North America.

Oh, I can smell the food in the air.

I'm very excited.

So, welcome to Aga's inside and we met up with Zain.

So, Zain, tell me about Aga's, man.

Aga's is a 24-25 year-old institution.

Our family took over about 15 years ago,

and it's grown from the hard work of our team.

Wow.

So, when we originally purchased the restaurant, it was just 6,000 square feet.

Okay.

Since then, we've expanded slowly over that way.

Uh so, now it's 15,000 square feet.

The most recent expansion was the banquet hall

because we assumed we would use a banquet hall for parties,

>> >> but it just made much more sense to just have folks dine in there.

And big families come, too.

So, you could have six, 10, 15 people.

Food is about community and getting together and family.

>> Exactly.

Okay.

Amazing.

You go through this series and there's various uh dining areas,

but then you come to the big one, the entire banquet hall,

where you can come here with your whole family.

Hello.

Thank you.

Thank you.

How's the food here?

Oh, lovely.

Best food ever.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

You can come here with a whole party, have a whole banquet.

It's one of the largest Indo-Pak restaurant in North America >> >> with seating

capacity of close to 750 people.

And on any weekend night, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,

we serve over 4,000 people per night. 4,000 people per night?

>> Throughout the year.

Amazing.

We have eight chefs, four from Pakistan, three from India, one from Bangladesh,

with probably 3-400 years of combined experience >> Wow. cuisine.

>> >> Step into the kitchen.

It is absolutely packed.

The chefs are hard at work.

There's a station for everything.

The aromas, the steam, the smoke.

And right through the entrance of the kitchen is where all the dishes are

ready and they're going out off from the line.

They're going out to be served.

But it is loud.

It is action-packed.

We're first starting at the karahi station.

Karahi is actually the metal steel rounded pan

that all the curries are made in.

Pakistani, Indian curries.

Oh man, there's like 50 karahis going all at the same time.

All the spices, the aromas.

And you got to stir them every now and then,

keep track of them with that raging hot fire, flaming, sizzling.

And these are actually the curries we're going to be getting, right?

>> Oh, yeah.

Okay.

We're having nihari, palak paneer, mutton daal karahi, chicken shinwari karahi.

Oh, man.

Okay. >> popular item here in Aga's.

Okay, cool.

Okay.

So, these are Oh,

these are the different karahis and curries that we'll be trying today.

But this is unbelievable.

The situation, all the different burners going all at the same time.

You really feel like you are in India or Pakistan,

and I'm so excited that this exists in Houston at Aga's.

This is as good as it gets.

One of the more impressive kitchens

that you'll ever see

because everyone is busy

and everything is organized.

Biryani is just flying.

And the naan station is just non-stop.

They're flying, never taking a break.

It's naan after naan.

They slap them out, slap them out,

then onto the like it's like a conveyor belt oven onto there,

and then there's a mixture of garlic with I think coriander.

They get a whole handful every naan, a whole handful of the garlic coriander.

Oh, that smells good.

We used to make 4,000 naans a day. 4,000 naans per day?

They're flying, non-stop.

Yeah.

Non-stop.

Then we go to the grill station where there's our famous goat chops,

sizzling goat chops are there being made.

>> The legendary goat chops.

They're marinated in a thick masala that smells incredible.

Then they go onto the grill, smoldering, smoking.

It is an impressive sight to see, and that aroma,

that smell coming off the grill is unbelievable.

So, we're moving on to the next station in the kitchen,

in the deep-frying station,

to see another one of the most famous dishes at Aga's.

So, we're going to start with our chicken lollipop,

one of the most popular item here in Aga's.

Look at that thickness of

that masala plastered onto every piece of chicken for the chicken lollipops.

I think they're the drum the drumettes, the wing drumstick,

and then all that meat is pulled down onto the bone,

so you got this lollipop like a lollipop head,

and then every chicken lollipop is actually nurtured, like formed and shaped.

The excess masala and batter goes off, then into the fryer,

and he has to like twirl it

so that it keeps the correct shape like a lollipop.

All that care ensuring the shape and form is perfect for every lollipop.

Okay, this batch is ready.

Lollipop chicken, fresh batch.

Look how crispy they are.

All that masala is plastered and crispified onto the chicken.

The fresh batch.

That's ready to go.

Okay, so we're moving over now to the tandoor station and the kebabs.

This is our own chicken kebab.

Chicken kebab?

>> Yeah.

Okay.

Chicken kebab ready.

All the meat kebabs.

This is our beef behari, one of the Okay.

There's so many things you have to eat here.

Yeah.

What is this one?

This is our chaska boti.

Chaska boti?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I think we're going to try this one, too, huh?

The chaska boti goes on.

Okay.

Now that we saw some of the kebabs being skewered.

Now, these are the tandoors here.

There's like five or six tandoors nonstop, always full.

And these are like Pakistani Texas-sized kebabs.

They're huge.

Beef chapli kebab.

Wow, nice.

Chicken tikka breast.

Okay.

This is our chicken wings.

Nice.

That's a beef kebab?

Yeah, beef seekh.

Beef seekh kebab.

Chicken seekh kebab.

All right, cool.

Look at the amount of takeaway orders.

How many takeout orders so far?

1,400. 1,400 takeaway orders.

Oh, wow.

That kitchen is one of the most impressive kitchens I've seen in the world.

It is bustling and I am so hungry now.

Moving to our table to start eating.

I've never been so hungry in my entire life.

Should I open now?

Okay.

And a lollipop, chicken lollipop.

World famous.

Yes, it is.

Okay.

Yes.

Palak paneer.

All right.

That's the Nihari.

One of the greatest dishes on earth.

Yes.

>> >> The amount of action, I have never seen this scale,

this busyness in the United States.

It is truly impressive, the organization.

This is a restaurant

that literally brings people together from the entire world serving incredibly delicious food

and it's still family run.

It is It's impressive.

I cannot believe it.

And the food, we have a feast.

I am so overwhelmed and so excited and everything smells incredible.

I have no idea what to begin with,

so I think I'm just going to go straight for that lollipop chicken.

You can see how crispy it is.

All that masala just crispified.

This is the first bite

and we have a lot of different dishes to taste.

Oh, wow.

That marinade, the spices, the masala batter.

It's so crispy and

then somehow on the inside the chicken remains

so juicy as it's been pushed down to the end to the lollipop shape.

So the chicken on the inside is just it remains incredibly juicy

while the outside is

so flavorful and so crispy.

For my next bite, I'll add some of the sauce.

Oh, yeah, and the sauce just elevates it with this a little bit of

spice and then a sweet

and a sourness to it to combine with all the spices.

That's extremely tasty.

Something you have to start your meal with.

All right, I'll move on to the chicken cheska boti

and let me add on a little bit of lemon,

give it a little bit of lemon.

There's a sauce that is grilled

or in the tandoor chicken

and then with the sauce on top.

Looks fantastic and with the red onions got to get some red onions

as well.

The tenderness of the chicken

that smoky flavor then it has

that creamy kind of tangy sauce to it,

that acidity of the lemon juice

and the crunch of the red onions all together.

The smokiness of the chicken marinated perfectly and the garliciness of the sauce.

That is it's like the flavor just embeds all the way through the piece

of chicken.

That's phenomenal.

Okay, next up for the dynamite shrimp, we're moving along.

Got a big meaty shrimp.

A little bit crispy around the edges

and then it's completely lathered in a sauce

that has a little bit of a sweetness,

a sticky sweetness a little bit of spice to it,

a little bit of seasoning spices to it as well.

It's just like an addictive flavor that you could keep on eating.

Okay, next up for the anari boti kebab.

And it's is chicken marinated in pomegranate.

So you can see that really red deep red pomegranate color.

And you can see the marinade is again just clinging to the chicken

and keeping it so moist on the inside

and so so hydrated on the inside

and just all that flavor coated on the outside.

Oh wow.

Again the smokiness comes through.

It's moist and juicy.

Has that acidity from the pomegranate.

Oh.

Phenomenal dish after dish.

That's why thousands of people eat here every day.

And this is just the start.

So the New York Times ranked Aga's goat chops the 26th I said about

that. 26 best dishes in America.

>> It was on the list of the 26 best dishes in America, right?

>> Yes.

How how cool is that?

I wanted to try it.

And we saw the entire process in the kitchen.

They're marinated in a really thick masala, right?

>> Yes.

>> Then they get grilled.

They're marinated for over 24 hours.

What are some of the main ingredients in the the masala?

I wouldn't know.

You wouldn't know?

Okay.

Okay.

>> >> I would I would I won't be able to tell you.

Okay.

But you can see it's probably like a yogurt.

There's definitely a mix of spices. >> different types of spices in there.

>> Wow.

Okay.

That's one of the signature dishes.

And then the presentation is also impressive

because they put it onto a flaming hot iron skillet.

Onions go on.

Oh that just immediately hisses and smolders.

And then the goat chops go on directly from the grill.

Oh and just hiss and steam.

Oh what a portion size too.

That's like five or six goat chops.

And they hiss and sizzle.

Nice.

Oh wow.

Those goat chops are unbelievable.

They're hissing. that steam, that aroma.

Oh, no wonder everyone orders them.

That aroma's irresistible.

Your mouth will water.

These are going straight out to the tables.

Yeah, man.

What a process.

They come to your table sizzling, steaming, and yeah,

your nose will awaken with the aroma.

So, these are hot off the fire.

One of the dishes I was most looking forward to.

The thickness of the the masala and the marinade just caked onto it.

I'm going to try with more.

>> Yeah, you should have one.

You should have one.

Yes.

Yes.

Here we go.

The legendary.

Oh, wow.

I can eat this every day, 7 days a week.

Me, too.

>> >> That is the truth.

That is phenomenal.

My god.

That yogurt-y mix of spices in the masala just It's It's literally just caked,

and then it goes all the way through the the chop.

Like all the way All the way to the bone.

Mhm.

Even the bone would be tasty if you could eat it.

>> >> But, it's like a perfect ratio.

The goat has a fattiness to it as well,

keeping it juicy and hydrated and moist.

And as that grills, the fat also seeps into the meat,

keeping it just like releasing the layers of flavor.

You you keep talking.

I'll keep eating.

Okay.

I got to stop talking.

>> >> Oh.

This is one of the best goat chops you can eat anywhere in the

world.

It is absolutely Mhm.

Oh, wow.

Okay, so next up, we'll try the Is that the beef kebab?

>> Beef kebab.

Beef kebab.

Beef kebab.

And they are big, hearty.

I'll join the party.

>> Yes, sure.

All right, here we go.

Beef kebab.

Meaty.

Mhm.

I can immediately taste the coriander seed, that bright citrusy flavor.

And the cumin. >> very crumbly, delicate.

Yeah, it has this really fine kind of texture.

But then it crumbles in your mouth.

And yeah, it's easy to dry dry something out like this.

But it's so impressive

that it's so moist

and so juicy even

when they are so busy in the kitchen,

they've maintained the quality.

And as you keep on eating that, more flavors come out.

And you get like this almost like a herbal.

The green chili Or is the green chili in there, maybe?

Yes.

Yeah.

The amount of people we serve, you've seen it.

But quality is never going to be compromised here.

It's always our top priority for us.

Consistency and >> Consistency and quality.

>> Very special.

>> It has some heat to it, too.

It does.

It's properly spicy, yeah.

Yes.

It is hitting all my taste buds all at the same time.

Oh, I love it.

Okay, what should we try next?

Okay, this chicken tandoori masala is one of my favorite dishes at our guest.

The chicken is marinated overnight with spices, then it's cooked in the curry sauce.

Yeah.

Oh my god, it's so good.

The sauce is so thick

that I'm going to grab in with a piece of naan for this.

Grab in with a piece of naan.

Oh, scoop right in.

Huge pieces of chicken.

Get some of the chicken

and then I'm going to scoop into It's swimming in a pool of gravy.

Mhm.

Oh, wow.

The creaminess.

It's so rich.

It's so creamy.

The gravy is so thick and so flavorful.

You taste the flavor of the coriander.

The chicken just melts in your mouth because it's been cooked in the tandoori,

then re-cooked in the sauce so it absorbs that flavor.

Layer upon layer of flavor.

Insanely flavorful.

Have you ever tried any anything like this anywhere?

Like I mean like some are similar but still different flavors.

>> Yes.

This is This is a family of chicken tikka masala.

Okay.

It is similar to chicken tikka masala, yeah.

Should we try the nihari?

Okay.

So, nihari tastes incredible by itself.

But adding a little bit of the the flavor to it Yes.

I got coriander >> Juliennes of ginger is a must. >> a little bit

of green chili. >> chili,

yes.

>> Yeah.

And then lemon.

Ah, brings the flavor out.

>> Got to get a little bit of acidity to that meatiness.

Yeah, you can see the tenderness of it.

It's just stringing apart.

Oh, look at that.

Is that cool or what?

Yeah, that's That will make your mouth water.

Again, let me just grab a piece so you can see the Oh,

when your fingers seep into the the sauce just a little bit.

That's one of the most satisfying feelings.

Sinking your fingers in It feels soft like a pillow.

Oh, again, it's just melting.

The tenderness.

And then you do want to Before you take it to your mouth,

you want to try to scoop up as much of that nihari gravy,

the thickness of it, as possible.

Nihari is another one of the celebrated dishes in India and Pakistan.

And it's It's one of the kings of dishes, actually.

People People go crazy for nihari and often it's actually a breakfast dish.

It might I said I always eat it for breakfast, yeah.

>> Yeah, I was going to tell you that that nihari is so popular,

they eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between. 24 hours a day.

>> Yes.

>> >> Oh, wow.

But there's nothing like nihari in the world, man.

No.

Nihari is a special dish.

>> It's It's incredibly special.

Just the the balance of the spices, the black peppery cardamom aroma to it,

but the meatiness.

It's all about the meatiness of nihari.

A huge thank you to Shaukat.

He's part of the family and he manages the floor, so he's extremely busy.

He had to go take care of some stuff,

but just him taking the time to explain

and to take some bites with me was very special.

Before we can proceed,

I need another bite of nihari before we can go on.

Let me give that a little squeeze of lemon, add some ginger.

That bite of nihari literally takes me back to the streets of Pakistan.

That's the power of food.

It can transport you to another world, to another place, to happiness and memories.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Let me take some of the garlic naan.

And this one is the white chicken karahi.

So, it's a white, like a creamy sauce.

Huge pieces of Oh, it's chicken kebab.

Chicken kebab and that sauce is so thick and so creamy.

There's never ending dish after dish.

That sauce it has this nutty creaminess to it.

It tastes like a nuttiness Yeah, like a nuttiness.

You taste the garlic in there, the herbalness,

all just completely saturated under these tender, juicy chicken kebabs.

And I read that this is also one of the signature dishes,

is white karahi.

It is that so much flavor like It will leave you smiling

and completely happy and you'll you'll never want to stop eating it.

It will blow away your taste buds.

Okay, we're moving on.

This one is the shinwari karahi

and I think it's with I think it's with chicken.

Oh, you see the chilies in here.

You see the amount of ginger.

This looks spicy.

Look at the thickness of the sauce.

The tartness of the tomatoes in there, the ginger, the green chilies.

Oh yeah, you taste the chilies in there.

Oh, that's so good.

And that is a completely different flavor from the white karahi.

So this one is the Hunza karahi

which is in the northern part of Pakistan.

It's in the Karakoram Mountains.

It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life

and the food is has quite a bit of difference too

because it's more high elevation.

The spices are not quite as strong, but the meat is just as good.

Oh, that one tastes more like mutton.

Instead of goat, it tastes like mutton.

It has a stronger meaty flavor to it.

The spices are not quite as strong, but the meat just stands out.

The flavor of ginger, just a little bit of acidity.

The meat just melts in your mouth.

Is this one with lamb or mutton?

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, you taste the difference from the goat, yeah.

It is mutton.

Hey, knew it was mutton because you immediately taste that flavor.

And because the spices are not as strong,

you just really taste the full force of the meatiness of it.

Okay, next up for the Hyderabadi karahi and this one is with goat,

I think.

You see the bone marrow, the pieces.

You can see that this one is just caramelized on the edges,

all the the meaty juices.

If you scoop down all the oiliness, it just falls off the bone.

Look at the tenderness.

Fully saturated.

It's like shredded.

That is so rich.

That's like meat candy almost.

It's been caramelized in its fat.

But, I think it's all about like that edge that creates that flavor.

Just simmered in the fat on

that high fire flanking

and stirring and accumulating those the caramelized meat.

All that good.

All the karahis are unbelievable.

And all four of them taste so different.

Completely different makeup and spice blend and ingredients.

But, if I had to order one,

I think probably that shinoari karahi was my favorite.

But, the white karahi is unmissable as well.

Okay.

Still have a few more dishes to try.

Oh, I think I forgot about the palak paneer there at the front.

Let me grab a bite.

Palak paneer.

So, paneer cheese and like a creamy spinach sauce.

There's a lot of palak paneer

or saag paneer the way you It's like pureed,

so you barely even taste the flavor of the spinach.

That one you immediately taste the flavor of the spinach followed by this creaminess

and the crumblingness of the paneer.

Okay, I'm going to try some of the biryani next.

I think we got the chicken biryani.

And look at that rice.

You can really smell the saffron and the rosewater and the crispy onions.

Okay.

All right, get some of the chicken.

The fluffiness.

Oh.

The essence, the the aromatics, the cardamom in there, the clove, the crispy onions,

the rice is so fluffy, perfectly oiled,

the rice just kind of melts in your mouth.

Yeah, I love it.

Everything so far.

This entire meal, like

if I didn't know I was in the middle of the heart of Houston,

Texas, I would think that I'm in India or Pakistan.

From the the flavors, >> >> the variety, the diversity,

this is truly one of the the great restaurant experiences in the United States.

Okay.

Wow.

You will roll out of this restaurant

because you won't be able to stop eating,

but dessert, we're having dessert now.

We have a kulfi with noodles.

We have This is something really interesting,

like something I've never even heard of before,

a carrot halwa with gulab jamun with all sorts of things with in it.

And then two types of falooda.

Well, let's start with that kulfi while it's frozen.

Kulfi is like a an Indian Pakistani ice cream noodles rose syrup.

Oh, it's bold.

That is sweet, but really good.

Tastes like the creaminess, like the the creaminess of the milk.

It tastes like the richness of that.

And then we have some of the carrot carrot halwa.

It's like a Pakistani carrot cake almost.

That is a unique creation, something I've only seen at Aga's.

The flavor of the carrot, the halwa, like gulab jamun syrup, is saturated.

It is sweet, but it is really good.

And that's unlike anything else I've had.

Yeah.

The mango falooda, all with ice cream on the top, pistachios, jellies.

It's the full works and the falooda noodles.

You have to finish with something sweet when you come here.

And there's a party of sweets.

This restaurant This entire restaurant is a celebration.

Oh, yeah.

The mango.

I love the nuts in there.

The melting ice cream and the texture of the noodles.

Yeah.

Very good.

And one more.

The next falooda.

Rose falooda, okay.

Milk curds on top, the pistachios, the nuts, rose syrup, rose-flavored.

And you can eat and drink at the same time.

It's like a an ultimate milkshake with

so many different textures

and so many different like things going on in your mouth.

The jellies, the noodles, the creaminess, the ice cream melting, the rose aroma,

and the nuts all bringing it together.

But yeah, it has been an ultimate meal.

So happy, so full, and truly one of the great Indian Pakistani restaurants,

not only in the United States, but in the world.

And the thousands of people that come here, that line up,

that eat here every day is just a testament to the quality of the

food,

the authentic flavors, and the incredible family that runs this unbelievable restaurant in Houston.

You got to come to Houston, and this restaurant, Aga's,

is is worth coming to Houston for.

Thank you so much for having us.

>> Thank you so much.

It's an honor to be here.

Thank you.

We will be back every time we're in Houston.

I'll be back to Aga's.

Thank you.

I learned so much from this guy.

Incredible experience.

Likewise.

>> Can't wait to see you again.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Wow, and now we step outside.

There's got to be a few hundred people waiting in line to get in.

This is a restaurant like you will never see anywhere else.

It is unbelievable.

Aga's, you have to come to Houston.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Joey D has even walked us to the car.

Thank you for the hospitality.

>> Anytime, anytime, Mark.

You are the best.

You are the best.

Thank you so much. >> so much.

See you next time.

Of course.

>> See you next time.

>> Bye-bye.

God bless you, brother.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I need to go straight to sleep after that gigantic meal.

Uh but I want to say a huge thank you to you for watching

this video.

I'll also link the next video here.

We're uh going to be around Houston making some more eating some more delicious

food and making more videos.

So be sure to check out the next video here.

Thanks for watching.

Good night from Houston, Texas.

See you on the next video.