I miss Shishkabab House...so, Chicken Shawarma

It's been almost three months since I've had my last shawarma fix at Shishkabab House in Tucson, AZ. Chicken Shawarma with seasoned sliced red onion, hummus to die for, warm pita bread, and a fragrant yellow rice - to be exact. I have yet to find a Mediterranean food place here in Austin that I can run to when I am craving Mediterranean goodness. So, of course...I went in search for a recipe.
I've never attempted shawarma before, so I was really excited to try it out!

I found this recipe on AllRecipes: Chicken Shawarma

The recipe was really easy to follow and I broke it down to a few steps at a time rather than doing everything all at once. An observant reviewer was also kind enough to leave a recipe on how to make the Mixed Spice that is noted as an ingredient in the recipe.

Mixed Spice

1/4 tsp. powdered allspice
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. fenugreek
2 tsp. powdered ginger

Combine all spices together in a small bowl. He recommends using a mortar and pestle. I kind of mushed everything together with my spoon. It obviously makes more than the teaspoon necessary for the recipe - but save it for the next time! (Which trust me, you'll want to make this again!)

The only other things I've used differently were using boneless skinless chicken breast and simply marinating the chicken overnight in a ziploc bag.

First night, I made the Tahini Yogurt Sauce. I like to use fresh pressed garlic in my yogurt mix recipes, and I find they "ripen" beautifully the longer you allow them to sit in (mixed) in the refrigerator.

The next morning after my chicken had thawed, I mixed the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then put the chicken and the marinade in a large ziploc bag. Folded the bag over, pressed out excess air, and placed on a plate to go into the refrigerator.

With marinades, I like to have the meat marinading overnight. In this case, I had it sit there until the following evening.

Next, I emptied the marinade bag into a glass baking dish, and followed the recipe on cooking instructions.

The recipe came out fantastic! I just sliced up all the chicken I baked and put it into a bowl. The Tahini Yogurt Sauce that I had prepared had a thick consistency, so I had thought about quickly pan frying the chicken with the sauce just to warm it up a little. I didn't do this - but will try with leftovers!

I wanted to make the Yellow Rice, but darn it - with my entire cabinet of spices, I do not have turmeric!! Had to settle for brown rice and was happy.