Zoitsa Homely Produce would like to present to you our version of Shawarma Spice Blend…
For those of you that aren’t familiar with Shawarma let me tell you a bit about it.
Shawarma is a popular middle eastern dish that originated back in the Ottoman Empire. It was traditionally made with lamb or mutton but nowadays it is very popular and common to use with chicken, turkey, beef, and veal. For our vegan and vegetarian friends, this is a delightful spice blend that can be added to Vegan Shawarma (keep reading for how so).
Shawarma is an extremely popular “Street Food” in the greater Middle East, Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
Shawarma is basically roasted meat on motorized rotating vertical spits, as opposed to the more common form of a horizontal spit. Meats are threaded through, and they are grilled vertically, and the meat is then shaved off as it cooks. Very much like a Greek Gyros. Now not everyone has a vertical or a horizontal spit at home, but you can get the same tasty effect by either barbequing or pan frying your meat and using this gorgeous spice blend.
Shawarma is very similar to a gyros and a doner kebab. Meat is shaved off and then wrapped into pita bread/flat bread and filled to the brim with things like hummus, tahini, lettuce, tomato, just to name a few. The difference between a gyros and a shawarma is the spice. Shawarma adds a lot more spice and I feel it is a lot more aromatic.
Our version of Shawarma Spice Blend is packed with mild paprika powder, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cardamon pods, ground ginger, whole fenugreek seeds, whole cloves, star anise, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We then grind all the ingredients down to form this beautiful blend.
I love that it has such “earthy” spices that are mixed with such “sweet, woody” spices.
Since I don’t own a spit the way I use this blend is to add 2 tablespoons of Shawarma Spice Blend into a bowl and I add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and I whisk to combine to form a runny paste. I then add chicken pieces (either whole chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, chicken strips) and with clean hands I rub the marinade all over the protein and then refrigerate covered in my fridge for 24 hours (minimum 3 hours marinading) so that the flavours can really infuse.
When I’m ready to cook, I simply place in a cast iron skillet with ridges/griddle pan and place my protein of choice and cook until they are charred a little and cooked through. I add NO extra oil. I know its blasphemous to do this, but I add tzatziki and hummus to pita bread or to Lebanese flat bread and slice up my chicken, add some lettuce and tomato and BOOM chows ready!
My vegan alternative is to marinade some soy curls with our Shawarma Spice Blend and marinate for 24 hours (3 hours minimum) then use my griddle pan and cook them when I’m ready to eat, then slice up some red onion, red and green capsicum strips, tomatoes, and lettuce and wrap up in my pita bread (which is vegan as no eggs are added) and BOOM there’s your dinner!
It’s truly a delicious seasoning blend and one that is packed with flavours. As always, we add NO nasties, NO chemicals, NO anti-caking agents. NO weird chemical additives. There are NO fats, NO oils, NO sugars, NO thickeners and absolutely NO preservatives. Available in pouches and jars, check out our website!
بالهنا و الشفاء!/bil hana wish shifa’!/Bon Appetit
