I knew I could do hummus at home (see previous post), but what about my favorite Lebanese dish - chicken shawarma? A little careful research lead me to www.dedemed.com a great collection of demonstration videos by Dede on cooking Mediterranean foods. Her recipes are simple and very authentic. The following recipe is her version of chicken shawarma. My variation is to use boneless dark thigh meat instead of chicken breasts, marinating is longer (8+ hours) and grilling it until done. Yummm! The garlic sauce (homemade garlic mayo) is a MUST.
2 boneless (skinless) chicken breasts, cut into thins strips
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Mediterranean (Greek) yogurt
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp 7 spices (found in Arabic food stores or make it at home yourself)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs olive oil
Pita, kabees(pink pickled turnips), pickles and garlic sauce for sandwich.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover and let marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat pan and add 3 tbs olive oil, add chicken and let cook for 10 minutes until chicken browns, cook for an additional 2 minutes if necessary to brown. To make sandwich, use pita bread, spread garlic sauce (use the link or buy some locally) on pita, add chicken, kabees and pickles (you can add tomatoes and lettuce if desired). Roll sandwich and press in the grill press to make sandwich crispy for 3 minutes. Enjoy with fries or salad.
Made the chicken shawarma tonight for dinner. Due to a scheduling conflict, I ended up marinating the chicken for over 24 hours...it was simply fantastic. So moist and flavorful. I just pan-fried it. I served it with warmed pita bread and greek salad. Next time I would add the hummus as well. I couldn't find tahini in my grocery store, and my patience was nill because I had my twins with me. But I did make the garlic sauce which was delicious, even though mine was a bit runny and did not reach the consistency of mayonnaise (I ended up adding 2 egg whites to try and get it there). I will definitely make this again.
ReplyDeleteI too had a problem with the garlic sauce. I figured out that my food processor was just not powerful nor fast enough to whip oil into mayo. I've since purchased am immersion blender which has no problem emulsifying the oil/lemon/garlic mixture. Keeping everything cold helps as well.
ReplyDeletehey Mr Nelson I am glad you liked the recipe, it really makes me happy to see others of non-middle eastern / Mediterranean decent trying and spreading the wonderful taste of this of this new and exciting (maybe not for you) exotic cuisine. keep up the good work. I will put a link on my site for your blog.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
DedeMed
Go Blue.