A descendant of the doner kebab, a Turkish dish made with sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, shawarma is a popular street food with Middle Eastern provenance. This shortcut version of chicken shawarma skips the long marinating and roasting time and relies, instead, on seasoned roasted poultry that is stuffed into greens, instead of pita, to keep it tasting extra fresh. Served topped with a herby yogurt sauce, it makes a satisfying meal any day of the week. Both ras el hanout and za’atar are available in many Middle Eastern markets.
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Spice trader
No ras el hanout? You can season your meat with a similar mixture of 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin, 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon, 1/2 tsp (2 mL) paprika, 1/2 tsp (2 mL) turmeric, 1/4 tsp (1 mL) allspice, and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cardamom.
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This recipe was originally published in the April 2025 issue of alive magazine.