Sharwama: For your weekend delight

Shawarma, an appetising levantine meal, is very popular in Nigeria as it is the toast of the young and the old, writes Ololade Alabi.

Shawarma, which is made with beef or chicken filling is mostly consumed by youths at eateries, birthday parties, pubs and so on.

It is delicious and easy to prepare. Shawarma is a middle eastern dish of garlicky meat or poultry served on pitas.

Spelled “shawurma” or “shawerma”, it is a levantine 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. Shawarma was imported into Nigeria by  the Lebanese. But today, more Nigerians, especially the youth consume shawarma than the Lebanese. Follow the trend and enjoy your home made shawarma.

INGREDIENTS

-Chicken breasts

-Salt

-Maggi

-Curry powder

-Dried thyme

-Onion powder

-Garlic salt

-Crushed chillies “ grounded shombo”

-Lemon juice

-Water

FOR THE WRAP

-Flat bread

-Tomatoes

-Red onions

-Cabbage

-Lettuce

-Julienne carrots

-Tatase

– Shombo pepper

-dry pepper

-mayonnaise

-ketchup

-salad cream

-foil paper

PREPARATION OF SHAWARMA

• Season the chicken breasts to your taste and leave it in the fridge for about 30 – 45 minutes.
• Add two tablespoon of oil to a frying pan or griddle pan if you choose to grill it and allow it to get very hot. Take the chicken breasts out of the fridge and place in the pan.
• Allow it to sear for two minutes. One minute in, take a sharp knife and make incisions on the chicken breast to allow the heat to penetrate deep into the flesh. Give it another two – three minutes and allow the chicken to cook thoroughly.
• Take the chicken breast out of the hot pan and slice longitudinally on a chopping board for convenience, set aside and leave it to rest.

-slice and chop all the vegetables

• Get the flat bread and place on foil paper.
• Lay over the vegetables, in whatever order you wish.
• Place the sliced chicken breasts on top, scoop on Mayo and ketchup and sprinkle on a little dry pepper.
• Once rolled, wrap with the foil paper.
• Place the wrap in the oven and let it grill for 5 minutes.
• You can also place the wrap in a dry frying pan.
• Enjoy your meal with a chilled drink.

Courtesy: Nigeria Food TV.com