Chicken Shawarma

Chicken shawarma is a popular Arab dish by grilling meat on spit . It is prepared by stacking of marinated chicken meat and fats alternately on spit. The meat is grilled slowly as the spit rotates which in turn , gives the meat a juicy and tender flavour . Grilled chicken is shredded off from the spit when needed and served with tahini dip , seasoned veggies and french fries to make wraps and rolls. 

Before when I had this many years back , though not exactly the same, but such kind of wraps in a turkey restaurant in Switzerland ,I instantly fell in love with it. But then later these " shawarma " was introduced at few malls in  Mumbai ( India) too. Nowadays , in mumbai " Shawarma" are served street side too , at mahim and mohammed ali road, and their version of chicken shawarma is different to the authentic ones, but I really love their version too, and have made them many times at home.

Street food here in Mumbai is really cherished and loved by a majority of people ,including chicken shawarma , their version has maida wraps or pita bread with marinated chicken prepared on pit , served with yoghurt dip , whole chilly paste ( chutney) , french fries and cabbage too, all rolled into a wrap. So here is my version , some what inspired by street side mumbai Chicken Shawarma .







INGREDIENTS : 

500 gms boneless chicken 
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 
2-3 tbsp yoghurt 
1 tsp paprika powder / cayyene powder / red chilly powder
2 tbsp lemon juice 
salt to taste 
1/4 tsp garam masala powder 
3 tbsp olive oil /oil 
pinch red food colour ( optional) 

YOGURT SAUCE : 

• 1 cup yoghurt 
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise 
• 4-5 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice  
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• salt

OTHER INGREDIENTS: 

6 - 8 Pita breads ( home made or store bought )
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage 
1 -2 potatoes
1 cup red chilly chutney ( click here for red chilly chutney recipe )

METHOD: 

1. Wash, clean and chop chicken boneless into thick chunks and marinate with 
ginger garlic , yoghurt , paprika powder / cayenne powder / red chilly powder, lemon juice , salt , garam masala powder ,  olive oil /oil and
pinch red food colour for about 3-4 hours . ( I usually prefer marinating my chicken chunks overnight ) 

2. Heat heavy bottom pan , add 1 tbsp oil followed by marinated chicken and fry on medium flame for about 5- 6 minutes , flip the chicken and fry for more 3-4 minutes or until the chicken dries up. Off the gas . Side by side heat a coal until red , place this hot coal in between chicken pieces , and pour 1 tbsp oil / clarified butter . Cover the pan immediately to get smokey taste. 

                                               OR
Weave marinated chicken pieces in skewers and cook in preheated oven at 180 degree C for about 25 -30 minutes . ( bast the chicken in between with butter ) 

3. Peel , wash and chop potatoes into long thick fingers, add little salt and deep fry them in hot oil , drain and keep aside on an absorbent paper.

4. In a bowl , add mayonnaise , yoghurt , salt , lemon juice, garlic crushed with some olive  oil ,mix well and keep aside.

5. Now weave the chicken pieces in skewers or sticks and grill on gas directly for a minute , move the skewers / stick in a circular motion and grill from all sides ,  make small pieces of chicken with the help of small knife and keep aside for further use.

6. Make wraps by kneading all purpose flour with salt and little oil , followed by desired water and make a soft dough , cover the dough with damp mul mul cloth and keep aside for sometime. Now roll it into a chapati shape with a rolling pin and roast both the sides on iron skillet .

OR 

You can stuff and roll the chicken in pita breads ( home made / store brought ) instead of rolling in wraps . 

7. Take a butter paper place one pita bread or wrap , apply 2 tbsp of yoghurt & mayonnaise sauce , now apply home made red chilly chutney sauce or any other red spicy sauce you like , place 3 -4 tbsp chicken pieces in the middle , top it with some cabbage and few french fries . Roll it tightly in butter paper .

WITH HOME MADE PITA BREAD : 

8. Serve with yoghurt sauce and home made red chilly chutney. 

NOTE : 

• You can even grill the chicken in oven or char coal it , for oven you need to weave the marinated chicken directly in skewers and cook at 180 degree C in pre heat oven for 20- 25 minutes or until done ( to cook the chicken through ) and then cook on maximum temperature for 5-7 minutes to get the charred / burnt effect.
• To save time, you can prepare the chicken, give dungar ,  weave and give a charred effect by grilling it on gas ( or by prepare chicken by oven method ) , prepare red chilly chutney , pita bread OR wraps , yoghurt and mayonnaise dip, all pre hand and then at the time of serving , remove the chicken pieces from the sweekers /stick , heat them in a pan , make small pieces with knife and then assemble it into shawarma.

PREPARATION  TIME : 1 Hour. 
SERVES : 5 -6 Persons.