Chicken Shawarma Sandwich from Scratch

Directions

• Chicken Shawarma
• Pound chicken thighs until thin and consistent in thickness (about 1/4 inch thick). Then cut each flattened thigh in half.
• Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk together until fully incorporated. This is the marinade.
• Place chicken into marinade, and mix to ensure all chicken pieces are coated. This can be done in the large bowl, or transferred to a large zip-lock bag.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap or close zip-lock bag. Place in fridge for 8-12 hours.
• For cooking, there are some options. Classic shawarma is stacked vertically on a skewer and roasted (see video below). Alternatively, the chicken can be cooked kebab-style, or simply grilled on a BBQ. Baking in the oven is also an option, though not ideal. Cook chicken until it’s reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
• When chicken is cooked, shave and/or slice into thin little bits with a sharp knife. It’s now ready to go into the sandwich.
• Toum Garlic Sauce
• Cut each peeled garlic clove in half, revealing the germ. Carefully slice out the germ from each half, and discard. Keeping the germ inside can make the toum taste bitter.
• Put garlic and Kosher salt into food processor. Process until it is a smooth paste, scraping down the sides a few times to make sure everything makes plenty of contact with the blades.
• Add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, and process for another minute. Scrape down the sides as needed.
• With the processor on low speed, very slowly drizzle in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Process for a minute or two, until everything begins to emulsify. Scrape down the sides as needed.
• Gradually drizzle in another 1/3 cup olive oil. Go very slowly and gradually; about as slowly as you can drizzle with a spoon. If too much oil is added too quickly, the emulsion will break and the sauce is ruined.
• Next, slowly drizzle in 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. Then another 1/3 cup of olive oil. Continue alternating between 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1/3 cup of olive oil, until you’ve used all of each ingredient.
• Continue processing for another couple minutes. When finished, you should have a light, fluffy garlic sauce. The whole drizzling process may take 15 minutes (to give you an idea of how slowly you ought to be adding the lemon juice and oil).
• Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will taste best after a full day in the fridge.
• Pickles
• Combine the vinegar, water, salt, peppercorns, and coriander in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Wash and slice the cucumbers into thin slices; about 1/3 of an inch thick.
• Into a quart-sized jar, place the garlic cloves and a couple sprigs of fresh dill. Fill the jar up as tightly as possible with cucumber slices (should be able to fit all of them).
• When the brine is done simmering, carefully pour it into the jar. Fill the jar up enough that all cucumbers are covered.
• Place a lid on the jar, and let it sit on the counter until it comes down to room temperature. Then put jar in the refrigerator. Pickles will taste best after a few days in the fridge.
• Lebanese Pita Bread
• Heat water up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (don’t go much hotter than this, or it will kill the yeast).
• Combine warm water and yeast in mixer bowl and let bloom for 10 minutes. When yeast is looking foamy, add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and olive oil.
• Using the dough hook for the mixer, mix at low speed for 3 minutes. After that, a cohesive dough ball should have developed. Then mix at medium speed for 5 more minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, this can all be done by hand-kneading (but will take longer).
• Remove dough from bowl an form it into a ball. Rub it with olive oil, and then place in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 90 minutes. The dough should at least double in size during this time.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into individual pieces, according to the size of pita bread you want to end up with. For the very large pita that I make for these sandwiches, I divide the dough into 210 gram balls (this will yield 3 pieces of pita bread from this whole batch).
• Form each segment of dough into a tight ball. Roll the seam on the counter to help smooth it out. Place the dough balls on a baking sheet that’s been greased with olive oil. Cover with some lightly-oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise some more for 15 minutes.
• On a floured surface, roll out the individual dough balls with a rolling pin. Make them as flat and round as you can, without tearing the dough.
• Since they are quite large, cook each piece of pita bread one at a time. Heat a flat-top griddle or very large skillet up to very hot. Carefully transfer the flattened dough onto flat top or skillet, laying it as flat as possible.
• Within a minute, the moisture inside the dough should begin steaming and form a large bubble in the pita. This is what it’s supposed to do. After the bottom side is cooked and has some brown spots (but not burnt), flip the bread over and cook the other side (it’s ok if there’s still a bubble; it will flatten out after you flip it). Cook the second side for a minute, until it’s got some brown spots (but not burnt). This step goes quickly, so don’t take your eyes off it!
• Cover the cooked pita bread with a towel to keep warm and soft until ready to eat.
• The Sandwich
• Lay out a piece of pita bread, and slather a nice spread of the toum sauce across the center.
• Lay down plenty of chicken shawarma, in a row along the center of the bread.
• Line the row of chicken with pickle slices.
• Tightly roll the whole thing up into a pita wrap/sandwich.
• Optionally roll the whole thing up in some sandwich paper to keep it all together before (or while) you eat it.