SHAWARMA INSPIRED BY THE AVENGERS

For the Palestinian Chicken

In a bowl, combine yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic ground sumac, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and allspice, small onion grated, fresh ground pepper and kosher salt.

Whisk to combine. Add chicken thighs and mix thoroughly with your hands. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours.

For the Tahini

Heat a clean, dry cast iron or heavy duty skillet over medium high heat and add the sesame seeds. Stir frequently until they begin to turn golden brown and then stir constantly. Be careful, sesame seeds burn very easily.

Once they're toasted, let them cool a few minutes then add them to a food processor.

Start by adding grapeseed or sesame oil. Process the mixture into a paste, scraping down the sides. Add more grapeseed oil until you reach desired consistency.

For the Pita Bread

Place yeast into the work bowl of a stand mixer and add warm water and flour. Whisk together and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and make a loose sponge. Mixture will bubble and foam.

Pour olive oil and salt into sponge then add flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.

Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.

Wipe inside of bowl with olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1 inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 pieces.

Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.

Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a work surface and top of a dough ball; gently pat dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4 inch thick. Let dough round rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

Brush a cast-iron skillet with remaining 3/4 teaspoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay pita bread into hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds. Pita bread will begin to puff up and fill with hot air. Stack cooked breads on a plate when cool enough to handle.

For the Tabouleh Salad

Start by finely chopping cherry tomatoes. Add salt to the tomatoes and place in a fine mesh sieve over a measuring cup. You’re going to want to keep the juice from the tomatoes.

Next finely chop parsley. Add salt, and place in a paper towel lined bowl to help take out moisture, and let sit for 20 minutes.

Finely chop seeded English cucumber, green onions, and some mint.

Add everything to a bowl and mix to combine.

Combine bulgur wheat with tomato juice that has been boiled, and let sit for 1 hour.

Once bulgur wheat is cooked, add it to mixture along with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle with coriander seed, allspice, cinnamon, and cumin. Stir to combine.

For the Taziki Sauce

In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, chopped cucumber, minced garlic, juice of one lemon, and dill. Season with salt and pepper. Chill.

For the Chicken

You can bake or grill your chicken, but if you’re looking for the real thing you can buy a shawarma machine off of Amazon, load your chicken on the spit, and cook for a solid hour and a half until the outer layer of chicken is cooked.

Use a knife to cut chicken into chunks.

Serve on a pita with the other accoutrements, and enjoy!