Chicken Dürüm
Chicken shwarma wrapped in lavash
Adapted from Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon, by José Andrés
This is our tribute to the very famous shawarma, a spit-roasted meat dish that came to be during the Ottoman Empire. In our version, we marinate chicken in the same spices as a traditional shawarma, but we broil the meat-much easier to do at home than stacking it on a vertical spit and grilling it. And while shawarma usually finds its way into pita bread (like gyros found in Greece), we like to roll this chicken in Lavash, Turkish dürüm-style-a popular street food in Istanbul. Make sure to start a few hours early, or the night before, since the chicken needs some time to marinate.
Ingredients
For the marinade
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon Aleppo pepper
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
For the chicken
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 teaspoon canola oil, divided, plus more if needed
- 4 Lavash
- ½ cup Toum (garlic sauce)
- 1 tomato, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
Instructions
- To make the marinade, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl, then whisk in the garlic, salt, Aleppo pepper, parsley, cumin, sumac, white and black pepper, and nutmeg until well combined.
- Lay the chicken thighs flat on a cutting board and, with a sharp knife, trim off any extra fat and bone fragments, then slice into long, ½-inch-thick strips. Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt, then toss it with the marinade in a mixing bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, preferably, overnight.
- Meanwhile, lightly rub the pepper with ½ teaspoon of the oil. Set the pepper directly on the grate of a gas burner set to medium heat. Using tongs, rotate the pepper to char evenly, 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. (You can also use a broiler, turning the pepper about every 2 minutes.)
- Transfer the pepper to a mixing bowl and cover so that no steam escapes. Let steam for about 15 minutes, until cool enough to handle, then peel away the charred skin, remove the stem and seeds, and dice.
- Preheat the broiler to high and set a rimmed baking sheet on the top rack of the oven. Once hot, spread the marinated chicken across the baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over, using tongs, if it starts to get too dark on top. Remove the chicken from the oven and set aside to rest.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Put the lavash in the dry hot pan, 1 piece at a time, to warm and lightly brown. Spread 2 tablespoons of Toum across each Lavash. Divide the pepper, tomato slices, and lettuce among the Lavash, then top with the spiced chicken and roll lengthwise into large cylinders.
- In the same large skillet, warm the remaining ½ teaspoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Cook the roll, seam side down, until golden brown, about 1 minute. Carefully flip the dürüm over and cook on the other side until golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to a cutting board and cut in half before serving. Repeat with the remaining rolled dürüm, adding more oil if needed.
Notes
- you could use garlic mayo instead of toum