Chicken Shawarma

Chicken Shawarma

Today's recipe is a home made version of chicken shawarma. Shawarma is a popular sandwich of the middle east and is a favorite fast food. No one can resist this delicious sandwich of spiced meat wrapped in pita bread and drizzled with a delicious and tangy yogurt based sauce.The source of inspiration is Dedemed in youtube. I combined some recipes and ended up with a marinade flavor which my family enjoyed .The original meat used in shawarma is slow cooked chicken very similar to rotisserie chicken.But you will get almost the same results if you thinly slice chicken and use a grill pan.

In the spice mix I used a little of sumac ( it is optional). It is part of middle eastern cooking and has a tart flavor and enhances the taste of seafood,meat and salads.Sumac has a very inviting fruit tart flavor which you will love,but if you do not have sumac you can very well substitute it with lemon.You can use either chicken or mutton and your own combination of salad vegetables.

Ingredients
Pita bread-3 ( I used store brought ones)

Marinade for chicken
Chicken (boneless) - 1 lb
Spices-cinnamon-1 inch piece, clove-2 nutmeg- a small piece,
black pepper- 1/2 tsp, cardomon-1,cumin a pinch..Make this into a fine powder
(you can substitute this with Curry powder)
chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Sumac- 1/2 tsp
garlic paste- 1/2 tsp
olive oil- 2 tsp
Salt and few drops of lemon juice.


To Make Sauce
Tahini- 1/2 cup
Yogurt- 3 tbs
salt to taste
lemon juice- 1/2 lemon
( or you can use a combination of mayo,yogurt
and lemon juice)

For garnish
Onion- 1/2 finely chopped
Tomato -1 finely chopped
Chopped coriander or parsley- a hand full
Cucumber pickle or any vegetable pickle (optional)

Cut chicken pieces into thin strips.Mix all ingredients listed under chicken marinade and keep the chicken marinated for at least an hour. For best results marinate in refrigerator for at least six hours.
Using a mixer or a food processor combine all ingredients listed under sauce into a uniform mixture. You can also add one pod of garlic for extra flavor.
Heat two tsp of olive oil in a pan and  fry chicken till it is cooked. This will take about six to eight minutes. Allow to cool.
For garnish chop onions, tomatoes and parsley and also thinly slice pickles.
Now to assemble, place pita bread flat on a plate and spread a little of the sauce. Place a little of chopped vegetables,pickle and the cooked chicken . Drizzle a little bit of sauce and tightly roll it.Cover with foil and place it on the hot pan so that it gets a little warmed up..Serve and Enjoy!

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy