Chicken Shawarma, savoury and spiced

Introduction

Chicken shawarma is a popular Middle Eastern dish which has been around for centuries. The dish typically involves marinating chicken in a mixture of spices. This marinade deliciously flavours the meat.

Traditionally, chicken shawarma is cooked slowly on a rotating spit, allowing the meat to cook evenly and retain its moisture. This slow cooking process makes sure that the chicken remains tender and juicy. It has a beautiful texture once cooked. However at home, I am afraid I do not have a rotating spit in my kitchen (just yet) so I make this chicken in the oven or the air fryer, and it still tastes great!

The dish is often served with various accompaniments such as garlic sauce, tahini, hummus, pickles, and fresh vegetables. These accompaniments compliment the chicken and amplifies the layers of flavour to the dish.

Chicken shawarma is one of those dishes that is readily available at many restaurants, food trucks, and street vendors, making it a convenient option for a quick and satisfying meal on the go.

When abroad on holiday, and craving some halal meat, we usually can find a halal food truck serving a chicken shawarma to hit our meat craving.

I also now see it more often being served as a main dish in many Pakistani restaurants. It’s often served with a fresh naan, rice or chips. Accompaniments tend to be salad, garlic mayonnaise and chilli sauce. The children even will order it and enjoy it when we eat out. It’s very much become a staple dish in many a Pakistani household.

My take on chicken shawarma

I use chicken thighs for this recipe, as I find the thighs stay moist whilst being baked. However, the marinade is very versatile, and can be used on any part of the chicken. You can of course use chicken breast for this recipe. Just be careful not to over bake the breast, as the meat will dry out and become quite stringy.

I like to serve the chicken with naan, wraps or Turkish bread. My essential accompaniments are a creamy tahini sauce, chilli sauce and houmous. In addition, I always have a tomato, red onion and cucumber salad. Everyone loves assembling their wraps, it adds to the enjoyment of the meal.

Enjoying this dish with friends or family is definitely a social experience. As it’s such an easy meal to prepare, this makes it a must on the menu when entertaining. I recently made this dish when my cousin and her baby came to stay over. Without a doubt we were very busy with the children and baby. Having this quick lunch I could serve made life a lot easier. Everyone devoured it happily. Well apart from the baby, but even he was drooling!

You can also quite easily marinate some chicken breast steaks with this recipe, bake for 25 minutes, or you can cook on the griddle/frying pan. It works very well and I usually serve it with some brown basmati rice. salad and mint chutney.

I’ve also used this marinade on chicken wings and it’s made a lovely starter for a dinner party. The marinade quantity also doubles up really well. Reduce the baking time to 30 minutes if using wings. You can serve the wings with my matar pilau and kebabs and you have a feast in the making!

I’ve also marinated chicken breast strips and put them into hot dog bread buns for the children. Add a cheese slice and some ketchup and you have some happy kids! It makes for a great child friendly lunch, even for the fussiest of children. The marinade additionally works very well for a barbeque in the summer months.

Chicken shawarma as a Ramadan starter

Shawarma is readily available from street vendors, restaurants, and fast-food establishments in many parts of the world. Whenever I was working in the city centre, I would often go for a walk on my lunch break during Ramadan. I would without doubt, always find a street vendor making chicken shawarma, the aroma would grab me from far away!

During Ramadan, when families are fasting and may have limited time and energy for meal preparation, a shawarma offers a quick and easy option for iftar (the meal to break the fast). It really is a meal which involves minimal effort with maximum impact. It’s just so tasty and filling to eat. Perfect for Ramadan.

This shawarma recipe also makes a great starter to prepare in advance for Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting). You can marinate the chicken up to two days in advance and leave it in the fridge in an airtight container until you want to cook it. Alternatively, you can marinate the chicken and freeze it until you the day you want to cook . Just allow the chicken to thaw out in the fridge overnight. Then cook as per the recipe.

Overall, the flavourful marinade, tender meat, versatility, accompaniments, convenience associated with chicken shawarma are all reasons why it is loved by so many people around the world.

See my video on Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this dish!

Ingredients

Time: 5 minutes preparation, 40 minutes cooking time

Feeds: 4-5 wraps

• 2 chicken thighs, 300 grams approximately
• 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 1.5 teaspoons of paprika
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds/ kalonji (optional)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients to make a marinade and add to the chicken. Make sure the chicken is fully coated. Then marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.

2. Cover the baking tray with foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes (until cooked through) in a 180C fan assisted oven. (As I use the Scoville baking trays, I do not need to oil/grease the trays to stop the chicken sticking. You may need to do this depending on the trays you use).

3. Once cooked, shred the chicken and mix in the remaining marinade in the baking tray. (You could alternatively cut the chicken into small pieces at the marinating stage above, however I think the chicken stays juicier to bake the whole chicken thighs).

4. Serve the chicken with a green salad, flatbread or naan, tahini and chilli sauces and enjoy! Your guests will layer up their chicken shawarma wraps to their own taste.