Frying pan chicken shawarma with lentil salad
Chicken shawarma, but cooked in a pan! While this Middle Eastern spread feels really fresh and summery, it uses lots of store cupboard ingredients like roasted peppers in a jar, pickled vegetables, tinned lentils and harissa for flavour, meaning you can make this year round with a reliable red cabbage, a handful of parsley and a bulb of garlic.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp grated fresh nutmeg
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 10 grinds black pepper
- 800g–1kg/1lb 12oz–2lb 4oz chicken thigh fillets, skin removed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- pitta breads, toasted, to serve (optional)
For the salad
- 250g/9oz red cabbage, finely shredded
- 200g jar mixed vegetable pickles (such as turnip, carrot, cucumber or cauliflower)
- 500g/1lb 2oz cooked Puy lentils (from a pouch or tin)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- handful fresh flatleaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- salt
For the chilli sauce
For the garlic sauce
Method
To make the chicken, place the coriander seeds, oregano, nutmeg, garlic granules, chilli flakes, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper in a pestle and mortar and give the mixture a good grind to break down the coriander seeds. Dust the chicken thighs all over with the spice mixture, ensuring the chicken is coated evenly. If any of the chicken is thicker than about 2.5cm/1in, give it a good bash with a rolling pin to flatten it.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt. Add the chicken to the pan in batches to help create a really deep golden crust on the surface and to add flavour and texture. Fry the chicken for about 8 minutes on each side, then remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to rest for a short time before slicing into small chunks.
To make the salad, place the red cabbage in a bowl and season with salt. Take a few tablespoons of the liquid from the pickled vegetables jar, add this to the bowl and, with your hands, give the cabbage a good scrunch to release the purple pigments and soften it a little.
Heat the lentils in the microwave or with a few splashes of water in a saucepan on the hob. Drop the lentils into the bowl of cabbage and drizzle over the olive oil. Mix well and top with the pickled vegetables from the jar and the parsley.
To make the chilli sauce, blend the roasted peppers, harissa paste and olive oil with a touch of salt in a food processor or blender to form a smooth, spicy chilli sauce.
To make the garlic sauce, mix the ingredients together in a bowl, adding the lemon juice to taste.
Serve the chicken with the salad, chilli sauce, garlic sauce and pitta breads, if preferred.
Recipe Tips
You can eat any leftover chicken in lettuce cups for lunch.
