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Slow-cooked shawarma chicken

Name: Slow-cooked shawarma chicken
Total time: 2 h 50 min
Ingredients: whole chicken 1.5kg; red onion 1 large, cut into thick discs; black peppercorns 2 tsp; cardamom pods 1 tsp; cloves 1 tsp; ground allspice 2 tsp; garlic salt 2 tsp; ground cinnamon 1 tsp; dried oregano ½ tsp; mild chilli powder ½ tsp; paprika ½ tsp; olive oil 3 tbsp; lemon 1, juiced; tahini 2 tbsp; natural yogurt 6 tbsp; garlic 1 clove, crushed; lemon 1 juiced; flatbreads or pittas warmed; pickled turnips and chillies; red onion slices; cucumber slices; tomato wedges; shredded lettuce; chilli sauce

2 hours 50 minutes + Marinating
serves 6
Easy

Cooking the chicken low and slow means you can just shred the meat away from the bones ready to pack into warm flatbreads

By Janine Ratcliffe

Published: February 14, 2020 at 12:17 pm

Try this twist on a roast chicken, or make our classic roast chicken recipe here.

Ingredients

whole chicken 1.5kg
red onion 1 large, cut into thick discs

SHAWARMA SPICE BLEND

black peppercorns 2 tsp
cardamom pods 1 tsp
cloves 1 tsp
ground allspice 2 tsp
garlic salt 2 tsp
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
dried oregano ½ tsp
mild chilli powder ½ tsp
paprika ½ tsp
olive oil 3 tbsp
lemon 1, juiced

TAHINI SAUCE

tahini 2 tbsp
natural yogurt 6 tbsp
garlic 1 clove, crushed
lemon 1 juiced

TO SERVE

flatbreads or pittas warmed
pickled turnips and chillies
red onion slices
cucumber slices
tomato wedges
shredded lettuce
chilli sauce

Method

Step 1

Grind the whole spices with a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, then mix with the rest of the spices, olive oil and lemon. Rub over the chicken (including the cavity). Marinate overnight in the fridge (take out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking) or, if short on time, leave for an hour at room temperature.
Step 2

Heat the oven to 160C/140C/gas 3. Put the onions in the bottom of a roasting tin and sit the chicken on top. Cook for 21/2 hours, covering with foil if the chicken is catching (it will go dark with the spices).
Step 3

Mix together all of the tahini sauce ingredients and season. Rest the chicken for 20 minutes then pull into chunks and pile onto flatbreads with the accompaniments.