Shawarma

Ingredients

Meat and marinade

• 1 kgboneless lamb shoulder, sliced into 5 mm sheets, or the same weight of chicken thigh
• 150 glamb fat or fat trimmings, sliced thin, for basting the stack
• 150 mlwhite vinegar
• 150 gthick yogurt
• 2 tbspSyrian seven spice (baharat: allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, coriander, cumin)
• 1 tspground cardamom
• ½ tspground mahleb, optional
• 1 tspground turmeric, for chicken
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1onion, sliced
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 2 tspsalt

Toum, garlic sauce

• 4garlic cloves, peeled and degermed
• ½ tspsalt
• 250 mlneutral oil, ice cold
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tbspice water

To build

• 4 sheetsSyrian markouk or 4 large khubz flatbreads
• 150 gpickled turnips (lift), pink from beetroot
• 2tomatoes, sliced
• 1onion, sliced and tossed with 1 tbsp sumac and parsley
• 3 tbsptahini sauce, for the lamb version
• a handful of chips, as sold in Damascus

Directions

1. Whisk the vinegar, yogurt, spices, garlic, onion, oil and salt into a marinade and turn the meat sheets through it until every piece is coated. Refrigerate 12 to 24 hours; the vinegar is what tenderises and gives shawarma its characteristic tang.
2. Build the stack: thread the sheets flat onto a vertical skewer, or if you have no spit, layer them tightly in a loaf tin, alternating with slivers of fat and pressing hard so there are no air pockets. Cap the top with a thick layer of fat.
3. Roast at 160°C (325°F) for 1 hour 15 minutes for a loaf-tin stack, until a probe in the centre reads 70°C (160°F) and the block has shrunk from the sides. On a real spit, the outer surface is grilled and shaved continuously as it cooks.
4. Rest the block 15 minutes, then tip it out, drain the rendered fat and reserve it.
5. Shave the block into thin ribbons with a long sharp knife, cutting down the outside as a shawarma cook does rather than slicing across.
6. Fry the shavings in a hot dry pan with a spoonful of the reserved fat for 2 minutes until the edges crisp and darken. This crisped edge is the whole point of shawarma.
7. For the toum, pound the garlic and salt to a smooth paste in a mortar or blitz in a narrow jug, then add the cold oil literally drop by drop at first, alternating with lemon juice and ice water, until it emulsifies into a stiff white cream. Rushing the oil splits it.
8. Warm the bread briefly on a dry pan so it stays flexible.
9. Spread toum down the middle of the bread, lay on the hot meat, add pickled turnip, tomato, sumac onion and a few chips, and for lamb add tahini sauce instead of or alongside the toum.
10. Roll tight, fold one end under, and press the wrap on a hot griddle for a minute so it seals and toasts.

Technique

• Shawarma means turning, from the Turkish çevirme, and the vertical spit came to Damascus and Aleppo from Ottoman döner in the nineteenth century.
• Fat is structural. The cap of fat at the top of the spit melts down the stack and bastes it continuously, and a lean stack will always come out dry.
• Toum splits easily. Everything must be cold, the oil must go in slowly at the start, and a broken sauce can usually be rescued by starting again with a fresh garlic clove and adding the split mixture drop by drop.

Substitutions

• No spit or loaf tin: marinate and grill the sheets flat over charcoal, then chop them roughly, which is closer to what small Syrian shops do at lunchtime.
• No mahleb or markouk: skip the mahleb and use large thin tortillas or lavash for the wrap.
• Chicken shawarma uses the same marinade with turmeric added and is always finished with toum rather than tahini.

Variations

• Shawarma lahme, the lamb version with tahini, tomato and parsley.
• Shawarma djaj, chicken with toum and pickles, the Damascus street standard.
• Shawarma arabi served open on a plate with bread and pickles rather than wrapped.

History

Amman’s downtown shawarma shops date to the mid twentieth century and remain the city’s cheapest late-night meal.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shawarma?

Shawarma is a street food from Jordan: stacked marinated meat shaved from a vertical spit into thin bread with garlic sauce. Amman’s downtown shawarma shops date to the mid twentieth century and remain the city’s cheapest late-night meal.

How long does Shawarma take to make?

Shawarma takes 30 min plus 12 hr marinating of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Shawarma?

Yes, within limits. No spit or loaf tin: marinate and grill the sheets flat over charcoal, then chop them roughly, which is closer to what small Syrian shops do at lunchtime. No mahleb or markouk: skip the mahleb and use large thin tortillas or lavash for the wrap. Chicken shawarma uses the same marinade with turmeric added and is always finished with toum rather than tahini.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shawarma?

Shave the block into thin ribbons with a long sharp knife, cutting down the outside as a shawarma cook does rather than slicing across.