Chicken shawarma-style wraps

Real shawarma is cooked on a turning spit, but you can get close at home with a spiced yoghurt marinade and a hot pan or oven tray. These wraps cost a fraction of a takeaway and are easy to scale up for flatmates.

What you need (makes 2 to 3 wraps)

• Chicken: about 250 g boneless chicken thighs or breast, sliced into thin strips.
• Spice mix: 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, a pinch of cayenne, half a tsp smoked paprika, a pinch of cinnamon, half a tsp salt, 1 tbsp plain yoghurt. Add 1 grated garlic clove if you like.
• Garlic yoghurt sauce: 4 tbsp thick plain yoghurt, the juice of half a lemon, a little grated garlic, salt and black pepper. Grated cucumber (squeezed dry) and dill or mint are good additions.
• To serve: 2 to 3 flatbreads, pitta or wraps; lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickles and sliced onion.
• These are about half the quantities of an NC State University recipe for 4 wraps, rounded.

Method

• 1. Mix the spices, salt and yoghurt in a bowl or freezer bag, add the chicken and massage to coat. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
• 2. Make the sauce: stir the yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic and seasoning together. Keep it in the fridge.
• 3. Pan method: heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, turning, until browned and cooked through.
• 4. Oven method: toss the chicken with a sliced onion and a little oil, spread in a single layer on a tray and roast at about 230C (450F) for about 15 minutes, until cooked through and the onions are slightly caramelised.
• 5. Warm the bread for 30 seconds to 1 minute in the microwave or a dry pan.
• 6. Spread sauce on the bread, add salad and chicken, top with pickles and more sauce, and roll up.

Raw chicken safety

• Marinate in the fridge, never on the counter, and throw away any leftover marinade that touched raw chicken.
• Do not wash raw chicken: it splashes Campylobacter around the kitchen; cooking is what kills it (Southend-on-Sea City Council).
• Cook until steaming hot with no pink meat and clear juices (FSA), or 74C (165F) inside (FoodSafety.gov). Cut into the thickest strip to check.
• Use one board for raw chicken and another for salad, or wash the board in hot soapy water in between.
• Do not crowd the pan: too much chicken at once stews instead of browning. Cook in two batches if needed.

Swaps

• Vegetarian: use drained chickpeas or thick slices of halloumi with the same spices; halloumi needs only a few minutes each side.
• Bowl instead of wrap: serve the chicken over rice or salad with the sauce and some hummus (sp-01).
• Spice blend: a ready-made shawarma spice mix is fine; check the salt content and add less salt yourself.
• Flatmate night: double the quantities and let everyone build their own wrap.

Leftovers and lunches

• Cool cooked chicken and refrigerate within 1 to 2 hours; eat within 48 hours (FSA).
• Keep the chicken, salad and sauce in separate containers and assemble at lunchtime so the bread does not go soggy.
• If you reheat chicken, make it steaming hot throughout and only reheat once (FSA). Cold cooked chicken is fine in a wrap if it was chilled properly.
• Yoghurt sauce contains milk, one of the 14 allergens; offer it on the side if you are feeding others.