Syrian Chicken Shawarma
This is Syrian chicken shawarma in Chef Omar’s style. It uses 1 kilogram of chicken breasts, first sliced and then marinated with salt, dried coriander, paprika, white pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, pepper paste, cashews, and one-quarter each of an orange and lemon with their peels. Yogurt is added in summer; in winter, it is replaced with half a cup of water. Oil is then added after marinating. The chicken is grilled over charcoal or on a grill, and saqsaqa sauce is made from an extra portion of the marinade with tomato paste, pepper paste, garlic, an orange slice, a lemon slice, coriander, water, and ghee. It can be served in toasted bread with saqsaqa sauce, pickles, and pomegranate molasses as desired.
A Syrian-style chicken shawarma dish, usually made with seasoned chicken served in flatbread or as a wrap.
Like a spiced chicken wrap or sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram Chicken fillet
- half a cup for winter Water
- half a cup Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dried coriander
- 1 tablespoon Red pepper
- half a tablespoon White pepper
- one-quarter or one-third tablespoon Cardamom
- the tip of a spoon Cinnamon
- half a tablespoon Nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon Ginger
- one-quarter of an orange with its peel Orange
- one-quarter of a lemon with its peel and without seeds Lemon
- 3 cloves per kilogram Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Pepper paste
- 8 pieces Cashews
- according to the season: used in summer, and replaced with half a cup of water in winter Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 teaspoon for saqsaqa sauce Tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon for saqsaqa sauce Pomegranate molasses
- dried coriander for the same sauce Coriander
- 3 cloves for saqsaqa sauce Garlic
- 1 sliced orange segment for saqsaqa sauce Orange
- 1 sliced lemon segment with its peel and without seeds for saqsaqa sauce Lemon
Instructions
- Slice open the chicken breast on a cutting board with a knife to make slices, or ask the butcher to slice each chicken breast into two slices on the cutting board.
- Put salt, dried coriander, paprika, white pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pepper paste, and cashews in the mixing bowl.
- Add one-quarter of an orange with its peel and one-quarter of a lemon with its peel and without seeds to the mixing bowl.
- Add the garlic to the mixing bowl for the marinade.
- Add yogurt to the mixing bowl in summer, or add half a cup of water instead of yogurt in winter.
- Mix the marinade well in the mixing bowl until combined.
- Add the marinade to the chicken in the marinating bowl and rub the chicken with it.
- Add half a cup of olive oil to the marinating bowl after distributing the marinade over the chicken.
- Leave the marinated chicken aside until it absorbs the marinade.
- To prepare saqsaqa sauce, place an extra amount of the marinade in the sauce bowl.
- Add 1 teaspoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon pepper paste, 3 garlic cloves, 1 orange slice, 1 lemon slice with its peel and without seeds, dried coriander, and half a cup of water to the sauce bowl.
- Add 2 tablespoons of ghee to the sauce bowl.
- Cook the chicken pieces over charcoal or on a grill until cooked through and golden.
- Toast the bread over charcoal before serving, if desired.
- Place the grilled chicken in the bread and add the saqsaqa sauce when serving.