Grilled Chicken Shawarma marinated with garlic, onion, ginger, cinnamon, clove powder, black pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon, and yogurt. served on Arabic bread wrap covered with Tahini sauce, pickles and red onions.
What is Shawarma
Shawarma is a well-marinated meat with a combination of spices (chicken, beef or lamb). layered on a vertical rotisserie or a long-standing skewer where it is slow-roasted until perfectly tender and full of flavor. Shawarma is one of the world’s most popular street foods, it is especially popular in the Middle East. Another poplar Middle Eastern street food is Falafel فلافل. Speaking of street food check out this article on The Best Palestinian Street Food Dishes You Need to Try.
Shawarma has become very popular in the US. When you walk around my hometown of Ramallah you will find many places that specialize in making shawarma. One very popular place in Ramallah with a very distinctive taste and different than any other shawarma I have ever had. This place is Abu Iskandar it has been there for generations. I have remember this place since being a little kid. Every time I visit home I love to go there and enjoy a shawarma.
A shawarma is shaved and served on an Arabic bread wrap covered with Tahini sauce, pickles, and other vegetables. Most importantly a shawarma is served with sliced onions with sumac spice. My favorite combination is onions with Suma, pickles and lots of tahini dressing.
Making chicken shawarma
The first step is marinating your chicken. If you use beef or lamb you may want to marinate for a longer time, it will take longer to tenderize. There are many different variations of spices that you can use. I like a combination that includes: garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, clove powder, black pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon, and yogurt. Mix all these ingredients in a bowel then pour over the chicken. If you use boneless chicken breast I highly recommend cutting the breast into smaller thinner pieces so the chicken will cook faster. marinated your chicken in the fridge for a min of 4 hours with a preferred time of overnight.
Use a pan or skillet I am using a grill pan which gives the chicken good grill lines. No need to grease your pan or skillet since the chicken has olive oil in the marinade. Place the chicken in the pan and grill for 10-15 minutes on medium high heat.
If you cut your chicken thin as indicated earlier the chicken will take less time to fully cook. Once the bottom is browned flip the chicken over. Continue this process until all of the chicken is cooked. Once all of your chicken is cook slice thin similar to a shaved shawarma.
Serving Grilled Chicken Shawarma
Prep the tahini sauce to use as a dressing. Mix tahini well with water add lemon and salt. I love tahini sauce and I always like to have some extra in my shawarma.
Slice onions lengthwise, any type of onions is fine, I prefer red onions. Add the sumac spice to the onions, this is an important spice that is served in a shawarma. I can not eat my shawarma without it.
Use a flat Arabic bread or other type of flat bread available. Layer your ingredients starting with chicken then add onions, pickles, and whatever other vegetables you like. Topping it off with tahini dressing then wrap. Now your grilled chicken Shawarma is ready to serve and eat.
Chicken Shawarma Wrap
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 wraps 1x
- Category: Sandwich
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Grilled Chicken Shawarma marinated with garlic, onion, ginger, cinnamon, clove powder, black pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon, and yogurt. served on Arabic bread wrap covered with Tahini sauce, pickles and red onions.
Ingredients
- 2 breast chicken cut thinly
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon clove powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 ounces of sliced red onions
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac spice
- 1/2 cup tahini (sesame oil)
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- salt
Instructions
- Mix all the spices with the lemon juice, olive oil, and yogurt.
- Slice the chicken into fist size thin pieces.
- Pour the above mixture over the chicken, stir well and let it marinate in the fridge up to 4 hours or overnight.
- Once the chicken is marinated, it needs to be cooked. Heat the pan, place the chicken, and let it cook on medium-high heat for few minutes and until the bottom turns brownish. Then flip to the other side for another few minutes. Until both sides look fully cooked. Once grilled slice chicken into more of shaved looking type and set aside.
- Prepare tahini dressing by gradually adding water to tahini with continuous stirring, then add lemon and salt, adjust to taste.
- Use flatbread, and start layering down the ingredient starting with the chicken shawarma and adding all other ingredients: onions, pickles, tahini dressing, then wrap it and it’s ready to serve.
