Having grown up in the middle east, I’ve never liked the “desi-fied” shawarmas we get in Karachi. This recipe is excellent in that it stays true to its Lebanese roots.
Chicken Shawarma
Course: MainCuisine: Middle-EasternDifficulty: EasyServings
6
servingsPrep time
30
minutesCooking time
15
minutesTotal time
45
minutesIngredients
6 pita bread
1 tomato (sliced)
french fries
dill pickles (sliced)
- Chicken marinade
½ kg boneless chicken
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tbsp vinegar
¾ cup yogurt
juice of ½ a lemon
½ cup oil
- Sauce
½ cup tahini
cold water
1 clove garlic
juice of ½ a lemon
2 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp vinegar
Directions
- Chicken
- Cut the chicken into thin strips.
- Marinate chicken in the listed ingredients in the fridge for 8-10 hours (or overnight).
- Heat oil in a pan and cook the chicken till tender.
- Sauce
- In the bowl of an electric chopper/grinder, add the tahini and cold water. Beat till the colour lightens. Add the cold water 1 tsp at a time.
- Add the remaining ingredients of the sauce and run the grinder till you get a smooth paste. Take out in a bowl and set aside.
- Assembly
- Prepare the fillings (tomatoes, french fries, pickles) but slicing into even strips. Set aside.
- Fill the pitas with chicken, sauce and other fillings.
Notes
- Instead of crushed garlic you can also use garlic-ginger paste if you have it ready in your fridge.
- Tahini has to be beaten in cold water.
- To start with, the tahini will be easy to handle/beat. As you add cold water it’ll keep solidifying and become harder to beat. Continue adding water and beating until its brown colour changes close to off-white and consistency is pasty.
