Chicken Shawarma

Okay, so technically this recipe should actually be called Shawarma-Style Chicken. True shawarma is cooked with stacked, spice-marinated meats– lamb, turkey, chicken, beef, or a mix of meats – on a vertical spit. The shawarma turns and cooks on the spit for hours and hours, basted in fat and its own juices. Fat = flavor = tasty, amazing shawarma. Thin slices of meat are shaved from the surface and served, either on their own or tucked inside a warm flatbread, topped with tahini or garlic sauce. Shawarma is one of life’s great pleasures.

Yield:
4 servings
Category:
Chicken & Other Birds
Cuisine:
Isreali

INGREDIENTS:

  • Chicken, marinade and bread:
  • 2½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 small garlic cloves, crushed
  • 20g fresh ginger, finely grated
  • ¼ tsp ground turmeric
  • ¾ tsp sweet paprika
  • 1½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¾ tbsp sumac
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
  • 8 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on or skinless (800g net weight)
  • 90ml olive oil
  • 25g chopped coriander stems and leaves
  • 4 large flatbreads such as pita or naan
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Red onion and cucumber salsa:
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced (100g)
  • ½ a large cucumber, thinly sliced (180g)
  • 20g chopped dill, plus extra to garnish
  • 4 tsp sumac
  • 4 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Tahini sauce:
  • 2½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 100g tahini
  • 15g parsley, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed

DIRECTIONS:

  1. First make the marinade. Combine the lemon juice, garlic, and ginger in a large bowl. Dry-fry the spices on medium heat until their aroma is released and then add these to the bowl, along with 1 teaspoon of salt and ¾ teaspoon of black pepper. Pat dry the chicken pieces and place them in the marinade along with 5 tablespoons of the olive oil and the fresh coriander. Massage the mixture into the chicken well, cover the bowl and leave in the fridge to marinade for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight.
  2. Place all the ingredients for the salsa in a small bowl, along with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix well and set aside.
  3. Put all the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a food processor adding a 90ml of water and a pinch of salt and blitz until completely smooth with the consistency of honey. Add a little more water if it is too thick to pour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  5. Place a large ridged griddle pan on high heat. Once red hot, cook the chicken piece

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