How to make the perfect chicken shawarma – recipe | Chicken

shawarmaan Arabic word that probably comes from Turkish cervirmek, meaning turn or spit roast, is the Levantine cousin of Greek gyro and Turkish döner: skewers of sliced ​​or minced meat that are turned in front of a vertical grill and slowly cooked in their own delicious fat until they’re sliced ​​and ready for your plate . It’s not surprising that such a clever idea has spread so widely, but each version has its own character, and the shawarma, found from Egypt to Iraq, is markedly different from the herbal gyros or the milder-spiced onion shawarma – and again differently in each country where it is popular. What they all have in common, however, is the difficulty of recreating this ever-popular street food at home when you don’t live close to the pros and, inexplicably, have a meter-long rotisserie in front of a four-burner gas grill in your own kitchen. Luckily, I’ve discovered that it’s actually possible to get great results without investing in either one.

The chicken

Although shawarma is also made from lamb, beef, and turkey, I stuck with chicken because there seemed to be more than enough opportunities to do so alone, although the same technique could be adapted for other meats. Most recipes call for chicken thighs, only Joudie Kalla (who writes in her book Baladi, “Who doesn’t like shawarma? It’s a Palestinian staple…I love it—as long as it’s done right”) uses breast instead. My testers and I all agree that as delicate as it is, it also feels a little dry compared to the thigh; However, the greasy chicken skin in the recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi on the Ottolenghi website does not have many fans in this country either. As much as we love crispy chicken skin, it stays a bit chewy here, and the thighs seem to have enough fat to keep them basted during the relatively short cooking time.

spices and marinade

Yasmin Khan’s book Zaitoun and Michael Solomonov’s Israeli Soul are responsible for the two simplest marinades I can find: the former uses only (!) lemon juice and zest, garlic, turmeric, allspice, cumin, olive oil and pepper, while the latter eschews the lemon and Garlic, but instead of allspice cardamom and coriander. The Ottolenghi team add fresh ginger and coriander, paprika, sumac, and the North African spice blend ras el hanout, which generally includes Kalla’s ginger, cinnamon, and sometimes cloves, but not her red onions. Like Obi and Salma from the Middle Eats YouTube channel, Kalla calls for garlic powder—alongside most of the spices listed above, they also mix onion powder, smoked paprika powder, baharat, ground ginger, bay leaves, and nutmeg. Nigella Lawson brings bay leaves and nutmeg to the party and throws in some chilli flakes of her own.

In short, there are many options in the seasoning department before we even delve into choosing the acid to flavor and tenderize the meat. In addition to lemon juice, the recipes use vinegar, sometimes in large quantities: Kalla adds both white and red wine versions, while Obi and Salma, like Sabrina Ghayour, marinate their meat in yogurt and also add tomato puree.

I can’t deny that all of the above are tasty, but we prefer the less aggressively-spicy examples, although we miss the acid element in those that omit it altogether. Lemon seems like a gentler option than vinegar, and garlic is a must, although not too much, as garlic is also present in the sauce and easily overwhelms even the sturdier meaty chicken thigh. For the same reason, I kept the spice relatively simple: the canon cumin, coriander, turmeric, and pepper, plus some sweet spices because I love them, and Obi and Salma’s smoked paprika for a touch of fire reminiscent of charcoal grill.

If you’re intimidated by the list of ingredients and don’t have them all around the house, rest assured that even the simplest versions I’ve tried have been extremely good – either Khan or Solomonov’s will make you very happy.

The cooking

Seasoning is of course a matter of personal taste; more important is how you cook the chicken. All but Lawson cut their chicken into thin strips – Kalla and Khan before marinating, Solomonov, Obi and Salma after but before cooking, and Ottolenghi and Tamimi after cooking. I find the medium approach preferable, as marinated strips take on so much flavor that the chicken itself is lost, while cooking whole thighs means you miss out on some of the crispy edges you get by exposing more meat surface to the heat.

You can achieve delicious results by packing the chicken in a roasting pan like Lawson does, inspired she says by Sam Sifton’s recipe for The New York Times, or by frying it like Kalla does, or by sautéing it in cook on a grill pan. like Khan. You can mix it up by grilling the meat and cooking it in the oven like Ottolenghi and Tamimi do, or by frying it in a hot oven (or air fryer) until the fat drips from the skin and it’s crispy ‘), then slice and fry with more spices, as recommended by Paul, founder of the I Am Doner Kebab chain. But for the best results, I think you need to put in a little more effort.

Solomonov poaches the marinated meat, tightly wrapped in cling film, then chills, thinly slices and sears until just charred around the edges, making it both tender and flavorful. But my favorite method, not just because it’s less work, comes from Obi and Salma. As Obi says, “It’s hard to get the same texture and flavor…when your meat is in direct contact with the pan,” so her technique skewers it onto ordinary skewers, as tightly as possible to keep it juicy , and then places it under the grill, “for direct heat but without actual surface contact for a more authentic flavor and texture.” Not only is this a one step process, but the results truly taste like the real thing. It’s a stroke of genius and I sincerely commend it to you.

The accompaniments

Once you’ve got the chicken properly prepared, it’s up to you whether you serve it with rice, stuffed into a fluffy pita, or wrapped in wafer-thin lavash — and what sauce, if any, you choose. Most of the recipes I try involve a tahini-based sauce, often with yogurt, unless they’re Israeli (milk and meat aren’t a popular combination with much of the populace), but I’m actually more into obi and Salma’s done toumor garlic sauce—“you can’t have a sandwich without it, and using hummus instead is a deadly sin!”—topped with a generous dollop of chili sauce (although you could use hot Yemeni sauce too). zhouas suggested by Solomonov, Ottolenghi and Tamimi – their recipes are online).

Side dishes include cucumber and red onion salsa with dill and sumac, or simply chopped cucumber, tomato, and onion, but I urge you to look for pickled cucumbers, beets, chili peppers, or other veggies to finish the dish; If you don’t have a local retailer, they’re easy to find online or to make at home, and for me they finish off the dish perfectly.

Perfect chicken shawarma

preparation 30 minutes
Marinate 3 hrs+
Cook 10 mins
serves 2 and simply scale upable to

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

For the marinade
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp smoked paprika powder
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground coriander
2 cardamom podscored and ground
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlicpeeled and crushed

Serve (all optional)
flatbread
Tom or tahini sauce
zhoug or chili sauce
Salty vegetables and/or chopped cucumber, tomato and onion
Chopped parsley

Beat out the chicken until it’s a fairly even thickness.

Place a small skillet over medium-high heat, then add the ground spices and toast until fragrant.

Whisk in the remaining marinade ingredients…

…then rub the mixture over the chicken and refrigerate in a sealed container for between three and eight hours.

Cut the chicken into thin strips, then thread one end of each strip onto a metal skewer. Insert a second skewer through the other end of each strip and push the strips to the other end of the skewers so they are firmly pressed together.

Heat the grill to medium and find a tray to balance the skewers on so they are suspended and not touching the ground.

Grill for 5 minutes, then flip and grill for another 5 minutes – the chicken should be charred and cooked through.

Allow the chicken to rest in its own juices to cool slightly while you reheat loaves and prepare the side dishes, then serve immediately.

Chicken Doner: Why is it so popular around the world and which regional version is your favorite? What’s your favorite way to eat it and where do you serve the best you’ve ever eaten?