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Spicy chicken shawarma
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 6 skin-on chicken thighs, deboned
- 100g thick Greek yoghurt
- grated zest and freshly squeezed juice 1 lemon
- 3tbsp olive oil
- 1tbsp smoked paprika
- 1tbsp ground allspice
- 1 fresh red chilli, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1tbsp dried oregano
- few sprigs fresh coriander, to garnish
- gyro flatbreads, to serve (see recipe, below)
Accompaniments (optional)
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- leaves 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1⁄2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 1⁄2 cucumber, finely diced
- 6 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 3 lemons, cut into wedges, for squeezing
- 125ml thick Greek yoghurt
Gyro flatbreads
- 270g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 250ml full-fat milk
- 1tbsp olive oil
Method
Preheat the grill to hot. Cut two deep scores across the top of each chicken thigh. Mix all the other ingredients (except the garnish) together in a non-reactive bowl to make the marinade. Add the chicken thighs, toss to coat, then cover and leave to marinate for 1 hour (or overnight), chilled. Bring the chicken up to room temperature 30 minutes before you plan to cook it.
Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and arrange skin-side up around 7cm apart on a lightly oiled roasting pan. Cook under the preheated grill for around 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the flesh is cooked through and the skin has charred and started to crisp.
Once cooked, slice across each thigh into 2.5cm-wide strips and season with salt and pepper. Pile up on flatbreads, garnish with coriander sprigs and place on your board, alongside any accompaniments you are serving.
For the Gyro flatbreads
MAKES 16 SMALL FLATBREADS
Mix all of the ingredients along with a pinch of salt together in a bowl and work them together with your hands. Once the dough gets scraggy, tip it out onto a surface and start kneading by hand.
Once you’ve got a soft, slightly sticky dough, pop it back in the bowl, cover loosely with a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes (or, if time is short, just charge on and don’t bother resting it – it will still work out okay).
Cut the dough into 16 small pieces of equal size and roll each one out on a lightly floured surface until they are all around 5mm thick.
Heat a heavy-based frying pan until hot, then slap a flatbread down in it for a few minutes, before flipping it over. Repeat and cook each gyro until golden brown on both sides. Stack them up and cover with a clean tea towel to keep them warm until you are ready to serve them.
This recipe was taken from the May 2020 issue of Food and Travel.
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