Chicken Shawarma

From the Ottoman Empire to the world! Shawarma is today a very popular dish and one of my personal comfort foods. It can be prepared with lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, veal, or mixed meats which are placed on a spit (commonly a vertical spit in restaurants), and may be grilled for as long as a day. Served with rice and salad or inside a flatbread.

If you love Shawarma but you don’t have a vertical broiler or a fancy BBQ with rotisserie equipment, you can have something really good using your air fryer, for this recipe we’ll be using the Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid and some creativity.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of chicken thighs without bone
• 1 big onion

Dry rub:

• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil

To serve:

• Flatbreads or flour tortillas
• Chopped cilantro
• Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• Onion cut in julienne strips
• Feta Cheese
• Hot sauce

Preparation:

• Place chicken tights between two sheets of plastic or inside a freezer bag then using a kitchen mallet flatten thighs until nice and thin, this will help tenderize the meat and to cook it more evenly.
• Repeat process with all thighs then mix the dry rub on a bowl and the olive oil with the lime juice in another.
• Pass the chicken fillets through the oil mixture then rub them evenly with the spice mixture, place them on a plate, and reserve.

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• Cut the onion on 1/2 cm slices.
• Insert two wood skewer sticks on one onion slice then start piling the chicken fillets vertically. To help keep your tower steady align the skewer sticks with the air fryer basket bottom grill and the drip tray.

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• Just make sure your meat and the skewer sticks doesn’t stand out the basket.
• Place the lid and cook on the Air Fry mode at 350°F for 30 minutes, then cook it at 400°F for 10 more minutes.
• Carefully remove meat from the air fryer and cut it into thin slices.
• Warm a large skillet with some olive oil, place the meat and cook it at medium heat until it’s fully cooked and it has a nice searing. Remove from heat and reserve.

• Warm some flatbreads or flour tortillas, put some gouda cheese and let it melt, place the chicken on top and add toppings (cilantro, feta cheese, hot sauce, or any other toppings you like). Maybe some guacamole?