Chicken Over Rice, White Sauce and Hot Sauce – Chicken Shawarma

My children Jacob and Ariana were home last weekend for the holidays, joined by plenty of family. When they departed, they were both weighed down with an abundant bounty. Jacob took containers of leftovers: roast chicken, butter simmered carrots, green beans with shallots, stuffed cabbage, quinoa with butternut squash and mushrooms. (I screwed up big time and forgot to put in a few leftover homemade potato knishes.) Ariana took no leftovers, but she took bags of groceries.

Some of my greatest pleasures in life are cooking for my children, supplying them with food, and sharing recipes so they can feed themselves and their friends. One such recipe that we all love and they now cook is oven-seared Chicken Shawarma.

On practically every street corner in New York City where dirty water hot dog carts used to reign, there are now Halal food carts. Technically Halal refers to items permissible under Muslim law – particularly butchered meats. Each of these carts serves falafel and gyro meat over rice or wrapped in a pita, and maybe one or two other items. But the most popular menu item is chicken over rice, with a token amount of salad. It’s all smothered in white sauce, and drizzled with a reddish-brown hot sauce. In effect, it’s a modification of Chicken Shawarma, the incredible Middle Eastern sandwich made with seasoned chicken on a conical spit seared as it rotates like a gyro. When ordered, it is sliced off the spit and stuffed in a pita with various vegetables, pickles, and sauce. As a rotating spit would not work so well in a tiny street cart, the vendors sear the pre-cooked meat on a griddle and serve it over rice.

I’ve tried many recipes over the years, none particularly successful. But then I found a recipe for oven-cooked Chicken Shawarma that works perfectly. With tender meat and seared crispy edges, it is delicious and incredibly simple, although it takes a bit of planning as you need to allow boneless, skinless, dry rubbed chicken thighs to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Jacob and Ariana love it and now make it on their own. Well, sort of. Often when they visit and go shopping in my refrigerator and pantry they take home pre-made packets of the spice mixture. When I make Chicken Shawarma, I always mix up extra quantities of the spice blend. It doesn’t take any longer, and it’s ready whenever I want an easy and tasty dinner. All that is needed is to cut boneless, skinless chicken thighs in quarters, mix the dry rub with a bit of oil, and smear it over the chicken. The next day, the broiler does the rest of the work. Once the chicken is done, it needs a bed of rice, a simple salad on the side, a bit of jarred hot sauce (I use harissa), and white sauce, which conveniently also uses a spice blend that I prepare ahead of time, ready to be mixed into a tangy, flavorful dressing.

Now whenever my children come home, they leave with leftovers, and they get packets of spices to make Chicken Shawarma and Chicken Over Rice with White Sauce and Hot Sauce.

Chicken Shawarma

This Chicken Shawarma made from oven-seared boneless, skinless chicken thighs, modified from a recipe on Chew Out Loud, is simple; however, it requires a bit of planning to allow the spices to infuse into the meat overnight. I do not recommend chicken breast, because it can dry out and become leathery; those who swear by chicken breast will never know the difference. The chicken can be served plain or in a pita, but it is especially good served over long grains of basmati rice with a simple side salad and topped with white sauce and hot sauce.

The recipe for white sauce I use is modified from Bon Appétit magazine, and while not particularly heathy, has just the right amount of tang. I have yet to re-create the hot sauce used by the street carts in New York City, but jarred harissa, perhaps thinned with a few drops of water, works just fine. You can usually find harissa at fancier grocery stores, and Trader Joe’s sells their own brand, although I have yet to give it a try.

Chicken Shawarma

15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking, overnight marinade, serves 6

2 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper, or more to taste

3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in quarters

1. Mix all spices together in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir into a well-combined paste. Set aside.
2. Cut chicken thighs into quarters, place into a large bowl, and coat with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Mix spice paste with chicken and stir well to completely coat chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 400 ^oF with rack in the upper middle position. Remove chicken from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature while oven heats up.
5. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place chicken on pan in a single layer, without overcrowding. Roast for 15 minutes or until chicken is just cooked.
6. Remove from oven and allow chicken to sit until cool enough to handle. Cut chicken into thin slices, drain excess oil from sheet pan, and return chicken to pan in an even layer.
7. Change heat to broil, and broil chicken for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring once, or until edges are nicely brown and crisp.

Halal Cart-Style White Sauce

10 minutes, about 1¼ cups

¾ cup mayonnaise

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp. sugar

½ tsp. dried dill

¾ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp kosher salt

1. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir to combine with 1 tablespoon water. Add more water as needed to make sauce thick, but pourable.
2. Sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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