Nadiya's chicken shawarma

Friday 30 August at 12:00pm

We all love the taste of a cheeky take-out now and then but the guilt of the calories doesn't seem worth it. So Nadiya Hussain is here to show us how to make a home made version of a good ol' chicken kebab.

Nadiya says: Shawarmas are like the kebabs that you can justify as being good for you. Well, they’re not particularly bad for you really, and they are actually quite easy to make. You don’t need a roly thing, or a special bread knife or tray. Let me show you how.

Chicken shawarma

Serves: 4

Adjust the amounts of spices especially the paprika and cayenne to your liking

Ingredients

For the shawarma:

2 tablespoons cornflour

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried leaf coriander

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (remember, add less if you don't like it too hot!)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

750g boneless chicken thighs, halved

For the raw slaw

1 large broccoli floret, thinly sliced

300ml Greek yoghurt

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon salt

Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C and lightly grease a 900g loaf tin
For the shawarma, mix together the cornflour, salt, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cloves, cayenne and cinnamon
Put the oil into a bowl, then add the chicken and stir it around. Add the dry spice mix and stir to coat all the chicken pieces well.
Layer the pieces of chicken in the loaf tin and press down, then bake in the oven for 40 minutes
Meanwhile, make the slaw. Put the broccoli into a large bowl. Put the yoghurt into a second bowl.
Heat the oil in a small pan and soon as it is hot, add the mustard powder and seeds – when the seeds begin to pop, pour the oil and seeds over the yoghurt, add the salt and stir. Pour this dressing over the broccoli, then mix in the parsley.
When the shawarma is ready, leave it in the tin for 10 minutes so that all the juices can go back into the chicken. Tip it out of the tin and slice your shawarma. We like to eat this piled into flatbreads with the slaw. Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge, or frozen for the next time you need your shawarma fix.