Name: Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 500g Chicken Thighs and Breasts; 1 tbsp Garam Masala; 1 tsp Turmeric Powder; 1 tsp Cayenne Powder; 1 tsp Chilli Powder; 1 tsp Onion Powder; 1 tsp Garlic Powder; 1 tsp Minced Ginger; 1 tsp Minced Garlic; 1 tbsp Lemon or Lime Juice; 1 tbsp Olive Oil; 1 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper; 1 cup Yoghurt; 1 tsp minced Garlic (1 to 2 cloves); 2 tbsps Lime Juice (or lemon juice); A handful of chopped Cilantro; 1 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper; 1 tsp Sugar; 1 tbsp Mayonnaise (optional); 100g Broccoli; 100g Cherry Tomatoes

How to make irresistible oven roasted Chicken Shawarma that is better than takeout!

The best kebabs I’ve had are in Turkey – no surprise – and also in Germany – surprise. Kebab shops are commonplace throughout the world, especially so in Europe.

We have our fair share of kebab shops here in Singapore, although not at every corner in the mall.

While it’s sold as a cheap eat in Europe, it’s more of a mid-range meal here, which is why it’s not a local favourite at all. Our cheap hawker stalls beat the kebab shops in terms of both taste and pricing.

Anyway, my point is that while I appreciate a good kebab, I would never get them in Singapore. The meat often lacks in flavour, and always dry. So, so dry. It’s usually covered up by the myriad of sauces offered… except most times, they are so stingy with the sauces so all you get is a roll of dry meat, wet lettuce and the littlest trail of chilli sauce.

So I make my own chicken shawarma! Doner kebabs and shawarmas are pretty much the same thing: basically thin slices of meat, stacked on top of one another and slowly roasted in a spinning vertical rotisserie. I was first inspired to try this out after binge-watching Nadiya’s Time to Cook on Netflix. She did this brilliant reiteration of it by stacking the meat pieces in a bread pan. Since then, I’ve made many versions of this, multiple times.

The Spice Blend Cheat Ingredient

What I love the most is that you can freestyle the spices according to what you have! I have a cheat ingredient – Garam Masala.

The spices in a shawarma can be a gorgeous combination of ground cumin, coriander seeds, fennel, cinnamon, star anise, cloves… Guess what common spice blend will already have a bunch of spices mixed together? Garam Masala!

The spice combinations differ according to brand, but Garam Masala typically counts cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom, coriander seeds, cloves in its ingredients list. By the way, Garam Masala is a pantry staple, not just for Indian cooking. It’s so ultra versatile. I used garam masala in my easy Spicy Chicken Rendang recipe here.

If you’re looking to also add this ingredient in your pantry, look for a basic blend. Check the ingredients list, and it should have not too many spices as this would make the taste too distinct.

Another spice blend you can use would be Chinese Five Spice Powder, which would usually consist of cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds and peppercorns.

My list looks long, but these are all spices and powders that I have in my pantry all the time. Feel free to skip any; in fact, with just garam masala, salt, pepper, olive oil and garlic, you can have a delicious chicken shawarma too!

Roasting the Chicken Shawarma

I used a mixture of chicken thighs and chicken breasts. I would recommend using more of the fatty thighs, for a moist chicken. You want to cut the chicken up into smaller pieces, about 5-6 cm squares. If you can be bothered to butterfly the chicken pieces to get thinner cuts, that would be great too. Chicken thighs are a bit cumbersome to slice thinner, which is why I do not do this.

Marinating this overnight would be the best, but I’ve made this in a pinch to great results as well.

I used my handy glass Pyrex baking dish to marinate the chicken AND to bake the chicken too. Do not do this unless your baking dish can handle the heat.

After marinating my chicken, I packed the chicken cuts on top of one another in the baking dish. I made sure to press the chicken in as much as possible, to make everything compact. This is so that the chicken pieces sort of stick to one another. When you take it out, and flip the pan out, you will get one compact chicken loaf. When you slice the chicken this way, you’ll get closer to that kebab look too.

This, however, is completely optional! You need a decent amount of chicken to make a loaf of it, and I don’t always need to make a lot of it. You can simply roast the chicken separately in a baking pan or rack. If this is what you are doing, then cut the roasting time in half. I baked mine for 40 mins, to make sure my piled chicken mass is cooked all the way through. If roasting boneless chicken pieces separately, 20-25 minutes is often enough to cook the chicken through. Use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature hits 74°C or 165°F to be sure.

Yoghurt Sauce

I consider it mandatory to serve this with a yummy yoghurt sauce! In kebab stalls in Singapore, the go-to sauces are mayonnaise and chilli sauce. If the place is slightly fancier, then you might have the option of a bbq sauce. This is to local tastes, I suppose. I love having some sriracha with mine, and some sort of yoghurt sauce with this. Much like having raita with my briyani or butter chicken, that fresh tartness complements the spices well.

Yoghurt: I used regular, unsweetened yoghurt. None of that fancy greek stuff, which you can use, no problem at all.

Lime Juice: I used lime juice, because I always have calamansi limes hanging out in my fridge. Feel free to use lemon instead.

Cilantro: I used cilantro in mine, again because it’s what I always have in my fridge. You can also use mint, and I’ve at times used basil as well.

Mayo: Mayonnaise is an indulgent addition to add to the sauce. I don’t usually add to my yoghurt sauce however as I’d rather keep the calories to a minimum. If you’re serving some picky eaters, mayonnaise can help to sweeten and add richness to the sauce.

I recommend making the yoghurt sauce first, and letting it sit in the fridge before you work on anything else. This will let the flavours develop even more. If you can make this the day before, that’s even better!

You can use the sauce for the chicken shawarma, or as salad sauce.

Salad

The kebab stalls would include lettuce and tomatoes on the side. You can do that too, I went a little offbeat by using raw broccoli (yes, you can eat them raw!) and cherry tomatoes.

If you’re not a fan of raw vegetables, then I suggest roasting the broccoli and tomatoes in the oven with the chicken as well. Simply lay the vegetables on a roasting pan, and bake with the chicken at the last 20 minutes. Roast Broccoli is one of my favourite ways of serving the vegetable, by the way.

How to Serve

Serve this in a pita – I have an easy recipe for it here – or with rice!