Chicken Shwarma

You know when you're craving a take away but feel the full on guilt for indulging in a greasy no good for you kebab - this is my simple and much healthier version of a shwarma - a kebab marinated in Middle Eastern / Asian spices and traditionally roasted on a spit.

My version is much simpler - done in the oven - but with all warming spices and juiciness of the chicken thighs.

I served mine on naans with a full salad and condiments on the side. You can always switch it up and serve in pitta breads or even just a full salad to make it healthier and lighter.

you can find my easy peasy naan recipe here 

My shwarma recipe will feed 4-6 people if using naans or 6-8 if you're using pitta pockets. You'll need the following :

1kg boneless chicken thighs - cut into chunks

1 tsp onion salt

2 tbsp cornflour

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground star anise

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp harissa paste/powder

3-4 tbsp olive oil

small handful of fresh coriander chopped 

• Start by mixing all the dry ingredients into a bowl, add in the oil and stir together to make a paste.
• Add in the chicken along with the harissa and mix together until all the chicken is coated fully
• leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes - you can even prep this the night before as this will help the marinade absorb fully into the chicken,
• Once ready to cook, preheat your oven to 160c fan/180c. 
• Take a long piece of foil and with the longest side facing you, place the chicken onto the foil, forming a sausage shape, ensuring the chickenn is packed together nice and tightly.
• Roll the chicken up tightly, forming a sausage shape - again ensuring its packed together nicely, place onto a baking tray seam side down
• Place in the oven for 40-45 mins
• Remove from the oven and let it cool a little  - you don't want the hot steam burning you or any of the juices to spit out. The foil will help in keeping it nice and warm
• Place carefully onto a serving board/plate, open the foil up, carve the shwarma and serve as desired 

Aubergine Guvec

This recipe was a bit of a 'throw together and hope it tastes alright' kind of dish, since i had some aubergines chopped and frozen and didn't want to do a traditional Asian vegetable curry.

So i thought of some Turkish dishes that I've tried in a couple of restaurants and came up with aubergine guvec which is basically roasted aubergines and bell peppers in a harrisa based sauce, with chickpeas for texture and to make it go that little bit further.

This is perfect to eat on its own as a light snack or light lunch or for dinner as we did with rice or cous cous.

For my aubergine guvec to serve 4-5 people you will need

3 large aubergines cut into chunks
2 bell peppers cut into chunks
2 mediuim onions diced
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
3-4 tbsp harissa paste
1 x tin of chopped tomato
1 x tin chick peas drained
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika
Squeeze lemon juice
Fresh coriander to garnish

• Start by preheating your oven to 180c (fan) and place the aubergine and bell papers on a baking tray and bake until they are cooked and beginning to go crispy and golden. Remove from the oven once cooked and set aside
• Lightly fry off the onions in a little olive oil till soft and they start to go l golden brown. Add in the salt, garlic and ginger paste, stir through till the garlic and ginger paste begin to take on a golden colour and the onions are slightly darker in colour.
• Add in the curry powder, with a splash of water and stir the curry powder through and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes and the harissa paste, smoked paprika and the cayenne pepper. Pour in about 100ml of water and then add the chickpeas straight in.
•Leave the chickpeas to simmer on a low heat for about 10-12 minutes or until they have softened slightly but take care not to let them start to disintegrate.
• Once the chickpeas have softened, add in the aubergines and bell peppers and carefully stir through- I used a metal fish slice as this helped to stop the aubergines and peppers keep their shape and to not turn into a mashed consistency.
• At this point the dish should be quite dry and most of the water should have completely reduced, and is ready to serve. You can leave it dry as it is or add a splash of water to loosen the consistency a little.
• Just before serving, garnish with a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh chopped coriander. Serve with rice, cous cous or pitta bread.