Shawarma and shawarma: what is the difference and how to cook them?

Every year, a juicy dish using fragrant pita bread is becoming more popular. In most Slavic countries, food is called "shawarma" and "shawarma." What is the difference in names, not even the ancestors of the dish can always understand. It is believed that this is one and the same dish, just it is called differently around the world. The basis of the spicy roll is fatty meat (lamb, chicken or turkey), pickled or fresh vegetables and, of course, a mix of spices.

Recipe

Even the youngest schoolboy knows how to make homemade shawarma, the recipe for a tasty dish is passed from mouth to mouth. So he travels around the world. To prepare such a roll you will need:

• 400-450 g quality chicken;
• 120 g lettuce leaves (only crispy should be selected);
• 4 sheets of aromatic aromatic pita bread (tortillas);
• 1-1.5 fresh cucumbers (it all depends on the taste and size of vegetables);
• 1 pickled (salted) small cucumber;
• 1 large meaty tomato;
• onion half;
• clove (one and a half) garlic;
• curry, small salt, pepper, coriander - to taste;
• vegetable oil for frying the meat itself and ready-made pita bread.

The shawarma filling is prepared in two main stages: first, vegetables are pickled, and then the meat is fried (young lamb and chicken are rather quickly fried, so the meat is cooked last). But you need to flavor the filling with spicy sauce. To prepare it you will need:

• 4 tbsp. spoons of high-quality ryazhenka;
• 4 tbsp. tablespoons of homemade mayonnaise;
• a mixture of favorite types of pepper (you can use ready-made);
• clove of well-crushed garlic.

Shawarma Cooking

The first stage: preparing the filling

1. The prepared vegetables must be washed under running water, dried and finely chopped (onions should be cut finer than all the others so that its juice is evenly mixed with other ingredients). Pickled cucumber should also be cut into small cubes, mixed with vegetables and slightly sprinkled with cucumber pickle.
   
2. Meat is the trump card that hides shawarma and shawarma. What is the difference between appetizers with lamb or chicken, a true connoisseur of the dish can tell. Lamb is more juicy and fatty, with vertical classical frying, all layers of meat on a spit are soaked more evenly. Chicken almost does not give juice, the finished meat is slightly dry. To prepare the maximum possible copy of the meat “in the Oriental style” at home, you need to heat the vegetable oil over a fire and pour in it chopped garlic (but well crushed in the garlic will give more flavor).
3. The meat must be cut into thin oblong pieces. Then pour it with a mixture of prepared spices (cardamom will give a colorful flavor, but if it is not, you can replace cinnamon). The meat must be fried until golden brown, making sure that the spices do not burn, otherwise this can ruin the taste of the finished filling.

Second stage: preparing the sauce

1. When the shawarma filling is ready, you can start the spicy sauce. To do this, mix garlic with ryazhenka, scrupulously mixing the mixture.
2. Then it must be set aside for 100 minutes - the garlic juice will open well in the fermented baked milk.
3. After that, you need to add homemade mayonnaise and spices.

Third stage: forming a shawarma

1. On the unfolded leaves of Armenian lavash, it is necessary to lay clean, dry lettuce leaves, decorate them with vegetable filling, and already a portion of meat should be unloaded on it.
2. The hill is seasoned randomly with sauce so as not to end up with a wet roll.
3. You can wrap pita bread in random order, making sure that one end is completely tight.

Second recipe

Shawarma and shawarma flavored with lemon juice is considered noble. What is the difference between this and past recipe? To understand this issue, it is necessary to consider the components of this shawarma. So, let's begin.

For the sauce you will need:

• 1 tbsp. l lemon juice;
• 4 tbsp. l homemade yogurt;
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic;
• 1 tsp whole coriander;
• 1 tsp good wine vinegar;
• a pinch of salt.

For two fairly satisfying portions of shawarma you need:

• 400-420 g of young mutton;
• fresh large pita bread;
• 2 cucumbers and 2 medium tomatoes;
• half (or third) of the bulb;
• a teaspoon of black whole pepper, whole zira and cardamom;
• half a teaspoon of turmeric and dry granulated garlic;
• a pinch of paprika;
• a tablespoon of vegetable oil (can be replaced with olive or linseed).

In order to end up with exactly the classic shawarma, the recipe of which we are now describing, you need to supplement the dish with cilantro sprigs or young parsley.

Cooking

1. Start cooking shawarma with a marinade for meat - pepper, zira, cardamom, turmeric and garlic should be grinded in a strong container, then add paprika and salt to the mixture and mix again. The last to add oil. Then dry seasonings should stand with oil for about 10 minutes, then the marinade will fully reveal its taste.
2. The meat, cut into several pieces, must be grated with a standing marinade and put in a dark place for an hour.
3. At this time, you can prepare oriental sauce, for this you need to mix yogurt with crushed garlic and stir well. Next, you can mix dry coriander, lemon juice, salt and vinegar.
4. Marinated meat must be fried on the grill (hot pan), pickle vegetables for a couple of minutes. You can add the finished filling in any order, the taste of the roll will not suffer from this.

Conclusion

Now you understand what shawarma and shawarma are, what is the difference between these dishes. We also examined how to cook such a dish. We hope that thanks to our recommendations you can make a delicious oriental dish.