How To Make Shawama

Shawarma is an Arabic meat preparation, where lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, veal, or mixed meats are placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day.


Its very easy and there is soooo many different versions of it which you make according to your mood and what you have on hand.

I do mine with chicken (boneless skinless) most of the time. The secret to that particularly delicious taste of shawarma is the tahini sauce which is basically a little sauce white in color made with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Obviously you can make your own. The way you season your chicken is also very important.


- You need flatbread or pita bread. You can also make your own at home, all you need is flour, a little bit of water, a little bit of oil, a frying and thats it. (look for recipe for indian or kenyan chiapati). Tastewise you cant tell the difference.
- I cut my chicken in little pieces, fry it and once the chicken is cooked add onions maggi, black pepper a little bit of garlic and nutmeg.
- Here is the recipe for the tahini sauce. You just need about 1 or 2 tablespoon of the sauce to add to your shawarma.

Tahini sauce is made from tahini - a sesame seed paste. Tahini sauce is thinner and used in pita sandwiches, shawarmas, marinades, and dips. Tahini sauce is very easy to make. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will keep for about two weeks.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
3 gloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Preparation:
In a food processor or mortar and pestle, combine garlic and tahini. Add kosher salt.

Remove from food processor and add olive oil and lemon juice. If too thick, add a teaspoon of warm water until desired consistency.

Mix in parsely

Serve immediately or refrigerate.


Shawarma

On my flat bread or chapati, I lay my salad, cucumber, tomato, my chicken and my tahini sauce. I fold my bread over the filing and roll it on itself and then put it on my foreman grill for 2 or 3 minutes. You can also put in aluminium foil and put in your preheated oven for 5 minutes.

Of course you can replace the chicken with seasoned lamb bits. I have eaten different versions that had corn and/or avocado in addition to the above. The turkish or lebanese/syrian eatery I get them from once in a while puts them in pocket pita bread and adds chopped parsley.

You can make any versions you want with whatever you have really, some ingredients depending on your location are harder/easier to find. I'm a big proponent of making as much as I can from scratch. Hope it helps.