Spicy Chicken Shawarma

A few months ago I subscribed to "Cooking Light" magazine to check out their recipes. I came across this recipe and really wanted to try it, it is a Middle-Eastern dish. The recipe calls for a spice (Tahini) that I was not able to find and therefore made a small change to the recipe, the recipe still turned out great. You will need pita bread and you can find a recipe for this on my previous post. Let me also say, that this turned out to be such a good summery dish, it must be the cucumber in it. I suggest you read the recipe completely before making so you note the changes I made and see what works for you.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley (I used cilantro instead)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I used 1 tsp)

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground coriander

5 tbsp plain low-fat yogurt, divided

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced and divided

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp tahini

4 (6-inch) pitas, halved

1/2 c chopped cucumber

1/2 c chopped plum tomato

1/4 c chopped red onion

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Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon (I added just a bit more) yogurt, 1 tablespoon juice, and 2 garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; saute 6 minutes or until browned and done, stirring frequently. The chicken turned out delicious!

Ok, here comes the change I made, but before I tell you, I will write the original instructions for the sauce: While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 1 garlic clove, and tahini, stirring well. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini mixture inside each pita half.

***

I decided to skip the tahini mixture since I couldn't find the tahini. Instead I decided to use the sauce I make when making Pakora's (see Middle-Eastern label for recipe). The sauce is made with plain yogurt, fresh cilantro, jalapenos and salt. It is a very yummy sauce and personally thought it went great with this dish. I don't know the taste that the tahini gives, but just the mixture I made without the tahini didn't convince me at all and that's why I decided to use this sauce instead.Anyway, after spreading the sauce inside each pita half, divide chicken evenly among each pita. Fill pita halves with cucumber, onion and tomato.

Add more sauce to the top of each pita if you like. Enjoy!!!

Pita Bread

I wanted to try a recipe that required pita bread. I had actually never tried pita bread before and wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. I didn't want to go to the store to purchase them so I decided to look for a recipe and make them at home. The bread turned out really good and it was very easy to make, totally recommend it. I found the recipe on "about.com." I will write the recipe here, but you can also go directly to their site for the recipe by clicking here.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg of yeast, or quick rising yeast
1/2 c warm water
3 c flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 c lukewarm water

Dissolve yeast and 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy

Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast water, slowly also add the 1 cup of warm water. Stir with a wooden spoon until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. You have kneaded successfully when the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.

Coat large bowl with oil and make sure your dough is coated as well. Place covered bowl in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

When ready, roll out in a rope and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface, cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. In the mean time, preheat your oven to 500 degrees farenheit and make sure the rack is at the very bottom. You should also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles (about 5-6 inches accross and about 1/4 inch thick).
Bake each pita for 4 minutes until bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and continue baking the rest of the pita bread.

Pakora

This recipe was given to me by my cousin Nashma. It is a Pakistani appetizer and it's delicious. I remember eating it at her house whenever I would visit, and since I hadn't eaten it in years, I decided to try and make them myself.

You will need a special flour for the batter called "Besan Flour" or "chickpea flour," which you can find at an Indian store. Lucky for me, there are several Indian stores in the Salt Lake area so it was not hard to find.

While at the Indian store, the owner recommended I buy "Pakora Masala" (spices for Pakora). Now, my cousin did not really include that on her recipe, but I decided to add it anyway (they are delicious either way). I used very little, probably about a teaspoon of it, and skipped the cumin and dry cilantro since I was adding this (plus this mix of spices already has cumin).

This is what the the small box of ground spices looks like. It is a blend of spices that includes: Coriander, salt, chilli, dry mango, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom seeds, etc. Remember, it's not really necessary to have all these spices, cumin and dry cilantro are fine to use on the recipe.

Ingredients:

Besan Flour
Green onions-chopped
Seeded jalapeno (s)-chopped
Tomato-diced
Fresh cilantro-chopped
Salt to taste (you don't need to much)
Dry cilantro
Cumin
1 egg
Finely diced potatoes
Water

Mix all the veggies and then start adding the flour a little at a time, mix well. Add water as needed, a little bit at a time because you do not want your dough/veggie mix to be runny. You want to make sure that the dough/veggie mix will not fall apart, so if it's starts holding together then you are ready to fry the pakora.

Drop teaspoon fulls of dough into hot oil, and cook both sides. I cooked one first just to see if it needed more salt or not. If the oil is at the right temperature, it really won't take long for them to start getting a golden/brown color. Place cooked pakoras over some paper towels to remove any excess oil. Serve warm (I think they taste best warm) with yogurt sauce.


Sauce Ingredients:
Plain yogurt
Fresh cilantro
Salt
Jalapenos

Place all ingredients in blender and mix well. Keep refrigerated.