Chicken shawarma

Hello everyone!!!
Thanks again for giving ur support and encouragement.

My hubby dearest loves shawarma and i have always been looking out for the perfect recipe to make it at home. I found out , it wasnt so easy. After exhaustive research, found out a lot goes in the preparation of the shawarma and it really is tedious to make. But anything for my dearest hubby, irfaan. : )

I decided to make everything at home, including the garlic sauce and the pita bread. 

I looked here and there and everywhere and found the perfect pita bread recipe. :) but there was a hurdle which i had to cross and that was YEAST. It wasnt hard, just that it was the first time i was using it. I couldnt find rapid yeast here as the recipe suggested, so had to find out how to use the dry active yeast. Instant yeast is used directly on the flour but dry active yeast has to be activated first by mixing with a little warm water, and NOT HOT WATER and left to work for 10 mins till it becomes frothy. Yippee!! Mine worked. Now lets move towards the recipe of the pita bread.

Pita bread 

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast and if using rapid rise yeast 2 teaspoons,
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening( ghee)
 
Method:

If you are using active dry yeast, mix it with 1/4 cup of warm water, cover and keep for 10 mins till frothy. Miix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

A simple hand kneading technique is to firmly press down on the dough with the palm of your hand, fold the dough in half toward you like you are closing an envelope, rotate the dough 90 degrees and then repeat these steps, but whatever technique you are comfortable using should work.)

Pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release the trapped air and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Heat up a heavy roti pan, and place one roll in the center. Cook each pita on both sides like you would rotis or chapatis. You can dab a tiny bit of oil if you like whilst cooking them. Keep them covered.

Lets move on to recipe of the chicken filling.

Chicken shawarma

Ingredients:

1/2 cup malt vinegar 
1/4 cup plain yogurt 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
salt and pepper to taste 
1 teaspoon mixed spice 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom 
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs 
1 teaspoon red chilli powder

Method:

Mix together the malt vinegar, 1/4 cup yogurt, vegetable oil, mixed spice, cardamom, red chilli powder , salt and pepper. 

Place the chicken thighs into the mixture and turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

Heat a heavy griddle or kadhai, cook the chicken pieces on high flame two at a time not over crowding the pan, and then on medium flame till chicken is tenderly cooked. Repear till all the chicken has been cooked. It is tedious but the result is awesome with the chicken getting cooked with all its juices. Cool it and cut into slices. 

Place sliced chicken, sliced tomato, sliced onion, and shredded lettuce and ( the most important) french fries onto pita breads.

Roll up and top with garlic sauce. Its bound to get crowded and difficult to eat without dropping. But where is the fun in eating a shawarma if u dont drop some fillings on your plate. ; )

Searched the perfect recipe for garlic sauce, this is which got thumbs up from hubby dearest and his clan.

Garlic sauce

Ingredients:

1 large potato
4 cloves of garlic (use less or more depending on your preference)
2-3 tbsp. mayonnaise#
2 tbsp. yoghurt
1 tbsp. fresh cream
½ tsp. tahini sauce (optional)*
1 tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil or melted butter
pinch of salt

Method:

Boil the potato with 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of salt until potato is tender. Drain the water.

Add all the ingredients into a blender including the boiled potato and garlic. Blend until completely smooth. Sauce will be somewhat sticky and thick. Adjust salt to your taste.

Sauce is ready! Tastes better the following day, so can be made a day in advance and keeps well for up to a week in the fridge. 

*tahini is avaialble in the market, but its easy to make it at home too. Just roast some sesame seeds on the tava or oven, make sure it doesnt become brown. Cool and grind with olive oil. Tahini sauce or paste is ready to use.

# i prefer making mayonnaise at home too... 2 eggs, add juice of a lemon and whip it..adding a drop of oil at a time till it becomes a little thick using at least 1 cup of oil altogether. U can use an electric beater, its more faster. Grind 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp mustard seeds, 1tbsp black pepper and mix it with the beaten eggs. Refrigerate and its ready to use in 4 hours.

Though its become too long, i wanted my readers to find the entire package in one, coz more than making the shawarma , finding and assembling the recipe took more time.

Hubby is totally in love with this recipe and me too. ; )

Do let me know how yours turned out.