Shawarma - Skewered on Swords

Whence the kebab?  History books reliably inform us that the kebab pre-dates city centre 'pub miles' and vans parked in laybys on any given suburban A-road.  The wonderful but often maligned kebab traces back hundreds of years in both Asian and African cuisines.  Kebabs are considered to have originated in Turkey when soldiers used to grill chunks of freshly hunted animals skewered on swords over open field fires.  A Turkish script of one Kyssa-i Yusuf in 1377 is thought to be the oldest known mention of 'kebab' on a menu.

A relatively modern variation of the kebab is the marvellous Shawarma - said to have originated in Lebanon, circa 1950.  Shawarma usually consists of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit.  Then served wrapped in unleavened bread with salad and pickles.

The following recipe details your humble narrator's interpretation of street food shawarma, to wit: one you can sit down in polite company and eat with knife and fork as opposed to the unfortunate paper-wrapped variety devoured on unsteady post-pub legs.

Behold the "open" lamb Shawarma, as opposed to wrapped. Fairly straightforward, but needs advance planning and prep as marinating in an aromatic yoghurt mixture is key.

To serve six to eight, you will need:

• Lamb (Salt-dried leg steaks were used in this version... allow two steaks per person)
• 100ml natural yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Half small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Half teaspoon ground black pepper
• Half teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder

To serve: Good quality hummus, fresh pita bread, assorted pickles and salad of your choice (your host accompanied his with fruity couscous and roasted vegetable salad)

Let's get to it...

• Place the yoghurt, water, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, onion and garlic into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the salt, black pepper, cumin, nutmeg, clove, mace until evenly blended
• Mix in the lamb to coat, transfer to tupperware, seal, and marinate in the fridge 12 to 24 hours (the longer the better)
• Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Cook the lamb steaks in batches until the fat melts and has browned, turning occasionally.  Pink centre (recommended) allow 6 to 8 minutes per batch.  Longer if you so wish
• While allowing lamb to rest, heat pita breads and arrange salad for serving
• Slice lamb thinly, reserving cooking juices for dressing
• Spead generous layer of houmous to pita breads and divide slice lamb to top each and drizzle cooking juices.  Season, serve and savour