Chicken Shawarma + Yellow Rice

There’s a NYC street food vendor, the Halal Guys, who feature many tasty middle eastern dishes. This is a take on the immensely flavor packed chicken and yellow rice bowl.

Don’t skimp on the white sauce and a drizzle of your favorite hot sauce. Serve with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onions and fresh naan or pita. I promise this will be a hit!

Please forgive the spices that aren’t currently in the Bethel pantry. I’m hoping they are in your personal stash. Or you could snag some from a neighbor and in return share the dish…
Allspice is really the flavor front runner in the chicken, definitely try to track some down!

This can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
Marinate the chicken for at least an hour or up to about 6-8 (marinating it to long will start to “cook” the chicken).
Serves 4

3 Chicken thigh packs (about 6 pieces), skin removed and bone cut out (you can cut thighs in half while doing this)

1 tbsp Garlic, minced

2 tbsp AllspiceSubstitute: make a blend of 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg & 1 1/2 tsp cloves

1 tbsp Coriander

1 tbsp Paprika

½ tsp Black pepper

¼ tsp Ground turmeric

2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Lemon zest(You can sub 2 tsp of ground Sumac, if you have. Most persons don’t have this in their pantry, so I used the lemon zest as ingredient)

2 Lemons, juiced

¼ cup Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste, along with a drizzle of oil for cooking

Chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced onions, naan or pita, and hot sauce Toppings to serve with

Yellow Rice

1 cup White rice, soaked in water for 30 minutes and then drained

2 tbsp Butter

1.50 cups Chicken broth

½ tsp Ground Turmeric

½ tsp Dried oregano

½ tsp Cumin

1 Bay leaf

1 pinch Salt, plus more to taste

White Sauce

¼ cup Mayonnaise

¼ cup Greek yogurt

3 Garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp Black pepper

1 tsp Lemon juice

½ tsp Sugar

2 tbsp WaterMore can be added to thin out sauce

Mix together spice ingredients for chicken, whisk together with lemon juice and olive oil.
Place chicken pieces in large ziploc or glass bowl. Add spice mixture to chicken and coat evenly.
Allow to marinate at least 1 hour or up to 8.

Prepare white sauce; mix all ingredients together until smooth. Cover and keep in refrigerator.

Start rice; in a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add drained rice to pot and toast for about 3-5 minutes. Until fragrant.

Add to rice, turmeric, oregano, cumin, bay leaf and a pinch of salt, stir together for about 10-15 seconds. This allows the spices to “open up.”
Add chicken broth to pot and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to simmer rice and cover. Cook for about 11-12 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf and fluff rice. Taste and add salt if needed.

While rice is cooking, cook chicken.
This can be done on the grill, a cast iron pan or a heavy duty skillet. (If using grill take care not to overcook thighs and dry them out).
If cooking on stove top;
Heat oil over high heat in skillet. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and cook for additional 4 minutes.
Remove chicken thighs from heat and place in bowl, chicken won’t be cooked all the way thorough, so chop chicken into pieces, either strips or small chunks. And then return to skillet, frying pieces for extra crisp-ness. This should only take about 2-3 minutes.
Taste chicken and add salt if needed.

For serving- scoop yellow rice on a plate and pile chicken on top along with toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, onions). Drizzle white sauce and hot sauce over everything and serve with warmed naan or pita.

Enjoy!!

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Chicken Shawarma + Yellow Rice