Shish Tawook

About This Recipe

Tender chunks of chicken marinated in a deeply flavoured mixture of yoghurt, lemon, tomato paste, and spices, then grilled on skewers over high heat and served with fluffy flatbread and toum — the punchy Lebanese garlic sauce.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 800 gchicken breast, cut into 4 cm cubes
• 150 gplain yoghurt
• 3 tbsplemon juice
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 3 clovesgarlic, minced
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tsppaprika
• 0.5 tspground cinnamon
• 0.5 tspground allspice
• 1 tspsalt
• 4 pcsflatbreads, to serve
• 100 gtoum (garlic sauce) or garlic mayo

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate

   Mix yoghurt, lemon juice, tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add chicken pieces and coat well. Marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.

2. 2

   Skewer

   Thread chicken pieces onto metal or soaked wooden skewers, leaving small gaps between pieces for even cooking.

3. 3

   Grill

   Grill over very high heat (barbecue or griddle pan) for 12–15 minutes, turning every few minutes, until nicely charred on the outside and cooked through.

4. 4

   Rest

   Allow skewers to rest for 3 minutes before serving.

5. 5

   Serve

   Serve with warm flatbread, toum, pickled vegetables, and sliced tomato and parsley.

Variations

• •

  Use the same marinade on lamb or prawns.

• •

  Wrap in flatbread with garlic sauce for a shish tawook wrap.

Storage

Cooked chicken keeps in fridge 3 days. Marinated raw chicken keeps 2 days.