Chicken Shawarma Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 11 minutes
Makes: 4 Shawarma wraps
Ingredients Needed
Spiced Chicken
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (around 150g/5ozs each)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
- 3 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground tumeric powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinammon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
To Fill
- 2 teaspoons oil for frying
- 1-2 lemons, halved
- 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber thinly sliced
- Pickled red onions
- 1/2 Oakleaf lettuce, leaves washed
- 100g/3.5ozs Garlic toum (see recipe here)
- 4 pita breads
Green Goddess Dipping Sauce
- 30g/1oz baby spinach leaves
- 20g/0.7ozs fresh herb mix of parsley, coriander and a little tarragon
- 2 garlic cloves
- 125g/4.4ozs sour cream
- 125g/4.4ozs Greek yogurt
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 MARINATE - Mix spices (coriander seeds, cumin, paprika, smoked paprika, turmeric powder, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cloves and oregano) together in a small bowl. Coat each chicken thigh on both sides in the spice mix and marinate in the fridge, ideally for 3 hours or overnight.
Step 2 DRESSING - While the chicken is marinating make the Green Goddess dipping sauce. Add baby spinach, fresh herbs and garlic to a food processor and pulse. Add sour cream and yogurt and blitz until smooth, around 1 minute. Store in the fridge until needed.
Step 3 COOK - Heat frying pan on medium heat and add oil. Fry the chicken thighs for 5 and a half minutes on each side or until cooked through. Slice chicken up and squeeze lemon generously over the top.
Step 4 ASSEMBLE - Heat pita bread in the microwave for 15 seconds just to soften or pan fry briefly for 30 seconds on each side. Spread generously with the garlic toum. Place lettuce on pita bread covering the entire bread, then add tomato, cucumber, sliced chicken thigh and pickled onions. Enjoy with Green Goddess dipping sauce.
Substitution notes:
You can use substitue the chicken with halloumi as a veg option and coat it in the spice mix before frying it!
Personal Note
I know having two sauces on this chicken shawarma is a bit extra but seriously, life is better with more sauce. My family is obsessed with sauces. I recently went to visit my family in Singapore as my dad is not doing so well. He had a fall a few months ago and ever since then he has been deteriorating. It's hard to tell how long he has, so I wanted to go over and visit while he was still aware of what was happening and who I was.
My sister Blythe lives with my parents along with their helper Del. Del is not quite a nurse but she's has looked after elderly people before and is patient and helpful. I noticed that my father's skin was looking dry so I gave them some of my lotion which was thicker than the one that he had and I thought would be more effective. Del would help apply it, help him with grooming, prepare their meals and help Blythe take them to the doctor.
I didn't realise just how food obsessed my family are until we were talking about our next few meals while eating lunch and then Blythe asked Del if she could get the "sauce" for my father instead of the body lotion!
So tell me Dear Reader, is your family food obsessed? And do you have a lot of spices in your spice cupboard?