Full Recipe
Author
Nigella Lawson | 2020-01-02
Description
Chicken shawarma is usually cooked on a spit, but I saw a recipe by the excellent Sam Sifton (a home cook, therefore eminently trustworthy) in the New York Times (where he was the food editor) for roasting it in the oven, and felt it was therefore safe to give it a go. Though I should say that, while my recipe is inspired by him, it is not his recipe. And though I was delighted with it, for me the crucial test was my son's approval. For a while, we lived on what I could loosely call London's Shawarma Strip, and my son went out nightly--after dinner, if you please--for at least one shawarma. I proffered my version tentatively, and he pronounced in its favor. Here, I've served it modestly, on a pile of shredded iceberg, with some warmed (proper) pita, lemon wedges and a tahini sauce, as made below. Although here my son dissented, and said that only lamb shawarma should be served with tahini sauce. When I make this for friends, or for a family lunch or supper, I slice up some fresh tomatoes sprinkled with mint, cut some cucumbers into wedged slices, and macerate some red onions, cut into half-moons, with red wine vinegar or lime.
