Chicken Shawarma in the Oven

I first “saw” this shawarma on Netflix (Nadiya’s Time to Eat). There were a couple other goodies on that show too (like the curried jack fruit, which is on my list). Anyway, I decided to make it, and I have to say it really is very, very good (and super easy). I can see doubling or tripling the recipe and making a whole whack of this for a crowd (once we are allowed to have crowds again).
I served it with homemade tahini sauce which is also a cinch.
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skin on chicken thighs (or get boned and save the bones for broth), cut in good sized chunks
- 2 tbsp corn flour (not cornmeal, corn flour…it is different and it’s also gluten-free which is a plus if you are feeding folks with gluten sensitivities)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1-2 tsp cayenne (to your heat preference)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp oil
Tahini sauce
- 1/2 cup tahini
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- healthy pinch of cumin
- 1/2 cup cold water
Whisk the ingredients together in order and put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Method
- Mix together the cornflour, salt, and all the spices.
- Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, drizzle on the oil and give it a stir.
- Add the dry spice mix and stir to coat all the chicken pieces well.
- Marinade it the fridge for 24 hours (you don’t have to but I did)
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Layer the pieces of chicken in a lightly greased loaf tin and press down, then bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes.
- When the shawarma is ready, leave it in the tin for 10 minutes so that all the juices can go back into the chicken.
- Serve from the tin or tip it out on a board and slice.
- Serve with rice or on flatbreads with whatever fixings you like.
- Any leftovers (ahahahah there won’t be any) can be kept in the fridge, or frozen.