Shawarma is not for the weak of heart. Until now.

Takeout Shawarma

One of my favourite bad-for-me fast foods that I enjoyed before the heart attack is Shawarma, and Shawarma Poutine if I was feeling especially indulgent, but normally over turmeric rice with lots of garlic sauce and hot sauce.

Early in the pandemic when we were still nervous about takeout, I found a recipe to make shawarma at home. It was as close to takeout as I could want; the turmeric rice was a little spicier than what I'd get normally, but it was good too.  

However, chicken shawarma is made with chicken thigh mostly, one of the fattiest cuts. This helps keep it moist. I've been told by the heart people to stick to white meat, and no skin. It also has a pile of oils. The turmeric rice is full of butter. And all versions are quite high in sodium, which I also need to manage. 

It's not the worst thing I could eat, but it's also not too great. So I was preparing to give up on shawarma. 

But then I started this project and decided to start by hunting down a shawarma replacement. After reviewing a number of recipes, I found that most of them have the dark meat and the oil that is a problem for us heart patients but is necessary for nice moist shawarma. My question became How to produce a nice moist Shawarma using white meat and low oil.

Of course, I soon discovered the recipe collection on the website for the American Heart Association, and I guess I can wrap this project up! Just kidding, I'll only use it once, and I'm using it for this. 

The AHA's shawarma uses white meat and very little oil. It retains the moisture by using an Instant Pot. An instant pot is a modern take on a classic pressure cooker. Because a pressure cooker is a sealed unit, it retains a lot of the moisture that would evaporate away in a regular pot. Therefore you can cook leaner cuts of meat without worrying about drying it up. It's also super fast. My regular homemade shawarma is marinated 24 hours in advance and cooks low and slow. But this version was on the plate in under 40 minutes with no advance prep. 

Part of my research is to try the recipe and ensure I can cook it easily, on short notice, and my family enjoys it. This was a win on all fronts. The instant pot made it fast and easy, and it was excellent.  My wife enjoyed it and asked if I could make it again. And the big score is that my son liked it. He doesn't normally like shawarma, and we have to order him something else. Of course, we didn't call it shawarma in front of him, that probably helped. 

It is also not exactly what I'd call shawarma. It is similar, it is really good, but if I was craving shawarma and nothing else, this wouldn't quite cut it. 

Rounding this out is a no-butter turmeric rice that I worked out myself, that was pretty easy, and garlic sauce. The garlic sauce usually found on Shawarma is basically plain Greek yogurt, which I'm allowed to eat, with minced garlic and lemon juice mixed in. 

Without further ado, here is the recipe: 

Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

From The American Heart Association

Permission is granted, at no cost and without need for further request, to link to or share AHA-own recipes provided that no text, ingredients or directions are altered; no substitutions are made; and proper attribution is made to the American Heart Association.

I don't like tomatoes

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small onion (chopped)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, all visible fat discarded, cut into 1/2 x 2-inch strips

1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

4 medium garlic cloves (minced)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon black pepper ((coarsely ground preferred)) 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 medium unpeeled cucumber, sliced, and 1/2 medium unpeeled cucumber, chopped, divided use

1 medium tomato, sliced, and 1 medium tomato, chopped, divided use

2 cups torn romaine lettuce

2 tablespoons minced, fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

2 tablespoons crumbled, low-fat feta cheese

Directions

Heat the oil in the pressure cooker on sauté. Cook the onion for 3 minutes, or until soft, stirring frequently. Add the chicken. Cook the chicken for 4 to 6 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Turn off the pressure cooker.

Stir in the broth, garlic, cumin, paprika, turmeric, pepper, and salt. Secure the lid. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Quickly release the pressure.

Arrange as follows on a platter: the sliced cucumber, sliced tomato, and romaine. Using a slotted spoon, place the chicken on the romaine. Top with the remaining chopped cucumber and chopped tomato. Sprinkle with the parsley and feta. 

Here is a video of my process: 

Turmeric Rice

To my standard go-to white rice method, I switched the water for low-salt homemade chicken broth, although low-salt store broth would be just fine, and added the spices from this recipe to the broth while boiling. 

in a pot, add a teaspoon of garlic and a teaspoon of turmeric to 2 cups of low-salt broth