What kind of pita bread is needed for shawarma. Ingredients for pita bread

By 10/20/2015

If, for some reason, you are afraid to buy shawarma at the market, you should not deny yourself the pleasure of trying this interesting Middle Eastern dish. I bring to your attention a recipe for shawarma at home. There are many cooking options. Typically, shawarma is chopped fried meat, fresh vegetables and sauce, wrapped in pita bread. The recipe is easy to follow and does not require much time. The dish is suitable both for a quick snack during the day and for friendly gatherings with company.

The key to successful preparation of shawarma is sauce and spices; pay special attention to this. Use a variety of seasonings (black pepper, coriander, cumin, dill, basil, cilantro and others to taste) - this will give the dish an oriental taste and aroma.

Ingredients

• Lavash - 4 pcs.
• Chicken fillet - 400 g
• Peking cabbage - 1/2 pcs.
• Cucumbers - 3 pcs.
• Tomatoes - 3 pcs.
• Mayonnaise - 200 g
• Sour cream - 200 g
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Lemon juice - 2 tbsp.
• Spices, dried herbs - to taste
• Sunflower oil for frying

Step-by-step cooking process at home

1. Prepare the necessary products, wash the vegetables, remove the top leaves of cabbage.



2. Cut the meat into oblong pieces. Salt, pepper, sprinkle with lemon juice. Marinate it for 15 minutes. (if you have time, leave the meat with spices for an hour).



3. Fry the fillet in a greased frying pan until done. It is important not to overcook the brisket over the heat, as it will lose its juiciness.



4. Cut the cucumbers into strips.



5. Chop the tomatoes in the same way.



6. Chop Chinese cabbage (you can replace it with white cabbage).



7. The next step is preparing the sauce. To do this, mix sour cream with mayonnaise in a 1:1 ratio, add ground black pepper, a tablespoon of lemon juice, dried herbs (dill, basil), squeeze two or three cloves of garlic.



8. Spread about 2 tablespoons of sauce on the pita bread (closer to the edge from which you will start wrapping).



9. Spread a quarter of the cooked meat over the sauce.



10. Add vegetables on top of the fillet - cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage.



11. Pour the sauce over it and wrap it in a tube, carefully folding the edges at the top and bottom. Make sure that the lavash is fresh, because dried lavash is difficult to roll without tearing.



12. Before serving, heat the shawarma on both sides in a dry frying pan with a lid. You should not do this in the microwave, as the pita bread may not dry out, but rather become soggy.



13. Shawarma at home is ready. Bon appetit!

Shawarma (shawarma) is a dish based on fatty meat. It is fried with vegetables and sauce. After this, spices are added. The mixture of meat and salad is traditionally wrapped in pita bread. In some regions, pita is used as a wrapper.

A traditional shawarma recipe should be made from lamb or chicken. Other types of meat are used much less frequently for these purposes.

The process of frying meat takes place on a vertical spit; the finished meat is cut off at the edges in small portions and placed in shawarma.

A little history

People have many options for preparing this dish. The most similar recipe to the original is considered to be the method of preparation from the Turkish military campaigns.

There is a legend that says that for the Turks, meat was an integral product that they loved to eat daily. During the war, it was extremely dangerous to stop, so they decided to wrap the cooked meat so that it could be eaten on the go.

This is one of the most truthful versions of the origin of shawarma. There is a very similar version in which Arab nomads take part.

For Russian people, we call this dish by the same name. In other countries, shawarma was given a different name. For example, the Lebanese call this product “kubba”, in France the meat wrapped in dough is called “kebab”, for Azerbaijanis it is “deneur”.

Features of sauces and vegetables

The classic shawarma recipe includes a sauce made from dairy products. To prepare it you need to stock up on the following elements: kefir, tahini and various spices. For those who don’t know, tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds.

Seasonings play a key role in shawarma; they add a special flavor to the meat dish.

Israel is a country where they do not like to combine meat and dairy products in one dish. There they make a special sauce for shawarma, which is made from chickpea puree.

Pepper is the most popular seasoning for the dish. Garlic, sesame or nutmeg are also often used as spices. You don't often see shawarma with cinnamon or marjoram.

In some countries they use olive oil, rub it on the meat before frying and add a little to the sauce. The aroma of this dish is more intense.

Vegetables provide many nutritional benefits to the body, which is why they are always accompanied by meat. Tomatoes and cucumbers are most often used with meat; cabbage is added to pita bread a little less often. Alternatively, you can make shawarma with mushrooms. Everything here is according to your own tastes.

If there are no fresh vegetables nearby, then use canned vegetables.

You can add French fries to the meat, but then the shawarma will be too fatty, which not everyone can eat, and besides, such shawarma will be harmful to the body.

Homemade lavash recipe

It is impossible to make shawarma without lavash at home. Lavash is a fairly simple dough that does not have a strong taste.

In some countries, pita bread is used together with bread every day. It goes well with meat dishes, vegetables and several sweets. The basis for lavash is wheat flour.

Often, lavash is made according to two main recipes: from Georgia and Armenia. Georgian lavash has a thick appearance, soft consistency, and is a good substitute for bread. This dough is universal and is used for making pizzas and pies. These are not all dishes with lavash, because it is very popular in Georgia.

The Armenian lavash version will be more successful for shawarma, as it has a thin layer of dough.

Our shawarma wrap is made in the oven; there are also special ovens for this. Sometimes a non-stick frying pan is used for these purposes. This condition is simply necessary, because oil is not used when preparing pita bread.

To make lavash according to the Armenian recipe, we will need:

• flour 300-350 g.
• water 90-100 degrees 75 ml.
• salt 0.5 tsp

Amount of ingredients for 6 servings.

Take a bowl, preferably a deeper one, and pour all the flour into it. We make a small depression into which boiling water will be poured later. The water must be salted in advance. Next, you need to use a mixer to mix the finished mass.

After these procedures, you need to leave the dough in a warm place. It should brew completely within an hour.

The dough is rolled out into a thin layer and fried over medium heat. 15 seconds will be enough for each portion. If the pan is not as hot as possible, fry for about 20 seconds.

How to cook classic shawarma at home?

The classic shawarma recipe includes only the most necessary ingredients, which make this dish very tasty. When preparing this dish, you need to focus on its quality and taste, and the quantity of shawarma is a secondary matter. As you can see, there are no additions to the traditional recipe that will add volume to the dish. These are carrots, cheese and others.

Classic shawarma has been quite popular for many years. Now let's take a closer look at what ingredients are needed to prepare it. The recipe is for 3 servings.

• thin lavash 3 pcs.
• white cabbage about 200 g.
• sour cream, mayonnaise 4 tbsp. everyone.
• lamb 600 g.
• tomato and cucumber 2 pcs.
• garlic 4 cloves.
• seasonings to your taste. You should not put a lot of spices so as not to spoil the taste.

Everything you need is already on the table, now you can start preparing a very tasty dish. We have prepared a recipe with photographs for you.

1. First we fry our lamb in a frying pan or grill.
   
2. It is recommended to cut the finished meat into small pieces; the shawarma will turn out tastier this way.
3. Vegetables need to be chopped into small pieces or strips, then lightly mashed with your hands.
   
4. Take sour cream and mix it with kefir and mayonnaise. Chop the greens into small pieces and add to the mixture. Our sauce is ready.
   
5. Spread the sauce in a middle layer on the pita bread, then lay out the vegetable layer. Place pieces of lamb on top.
   
6. Wrap the dough and place it in the pan.
   
7. Fry for about 2 minutes only.
   

You can also watch the video recipe:

Bon appetit!!!

I think you liked the recipe!

Shawarma with chicken

If you love shawarma very much, but you have no desire to buy it at the market, then this is not a problem, because we have a wonderful solution to this problem. We have prepared a special recipe for making shawarma at home; you are sure to get great pleasure from this oriental dish. The traditional recipe includes fried meat, vegetables and sauce, all components are wrapped in pita bread. The preparation is not complicated, it will take no more than 30-40 minutes. This dish is perfect for a lunchtime snack.

To make shawarma very tasty, you need to pay a lot of attention to the choice of spices. Various seasonings: coriander, cilantro, basil, black pepper and others will give the dish a special aroma.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. The first step is to wash all the vegetables and peel the top leaves from the cabbage.
2. Chicken fillet should be cut into long pieces, then add seasonings with lemon juice. Let the meat marinate for about an hour (if time allows).
   
3. Fry the meat after greasing the pan. Monitor readiness and turn off the heat immediately after cooking. The brisket should remain juicy.
   
4. Cut the cucumbers into long pieces.
   
5. We do the same with tomatoes.
   
6. Now you need to chop the cabbage.
   
7. It's time to make the sauce. The first step is to combine mayonnaise and sour cream; there should be equal amounts of these products. Next, add pepper and lemon juice to the mixture. Choose the herbs you need and add them to the sauce too.
   
8. Grate the garlic and also add to the sauce, mix the mixture thoroughly.
   
9. Apply about 2 tablespoons of sauce to the edge of the pita bread. Smear the place where you will begin to wrap the pita bread.
   
10. Divide the meat into 4 equal parts and place one of them on the sauce.
    
11. Next next on top of the meat will be vegetables. Lay out all the cuttings.
    
12. Spread the sauce over the vegetables again, then wrap everything inside the dough. The pita bread must be fresh, otherwise it may crack when wrapped.
    
13. It is recommended to serve the dish hot, so heat the shawarma in a frying pan before serving. It is better not to use a microwave - the pita bread will become soggy there.
14. Our dish is ready! Bon Appetit everyone!

Shawarma with pork

I admit, honestly, that I have loved shawarma for a very long time, I eat all the components that are part of this dish with great pleasure. The taste that the mixture of vegetables and meat gives is quite pleasant. Previously, I always ate only store-bought shawarma, which was made in ordinary kiosks. A friend of mine became the owner of such a kiosk. His shawarma turned out to be incredibly tasty, although in addition to it, he had several other delicacies, but the most delicious, of course, was shawarma.

Having delved a little into my friend’s work, I was very surprised. I was confused by what products were selected for cooking, their quality and the cooking process itself. Honestly, I regretted how much of this stuff I had eaten before.

I completely lost the desire to buy this dish, since the quality control is simply terrible in such kiosks. I found a way out of the situation - to cook shawarma at home.

So here is the list of ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Cut the pork fillet into small pieces and quickly fry in a frying pan, no need to grease it. Fry the meat for 7 minutes, stir it. Of course, this is not vertical frying, but something similar.
   
2. Our sauce will be made from mayonnaise, herbs and grated garlic. Mayonnaise can be replaced with other products, for example, kefir or matsoni. The latter takes a lot of time to prepare, but then decide for yourself.
   
3. Place the meat and sauce on the table
   
4. Roll the meat in our sauce.
   
5. Let our pork absorb all the flavors of the seasonings and garlic. In the meantime, you can finely chop the cabbage.
   
6. Cucumbers and cheese can be grated; tomatoes should be finely chopped with a knife. I used cherry tomatoes, but absolutely any variety will do.
   
7. Now we begin to “pack” our dish. Personally, I take a couple of layers of pita bread so that all the contents don’t spill out. From my experience, I will say that the pita bread cracked quite often and all the vegetables were scattered on the table. First, I put cabbage on the pita bread, and a layer of meat on top.
   
8. Place cucumber on top of the meat to make the shawarma more juicy. Next is cheese and tomatoes.
   
9. Wrap the dough. Our shawarma is completely ready, all that remains is to warm it up. You can do this in a frying pan, one minute each side. Now the dish will be much tastier.
   

This is the kind of wonderful piece you should get. So there is nothing complicated about making shawarma at home. Now it won’t be difficult for you to prepare a delicious and satisfying lunch!

Bon Appetit everyone!

Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish of Arab origin, in some countries called doner kebab, made from pita bread stuffed with grilled and then minced meat (chicken, lamb and veal, sometimes turkey), with the addition of sauce and fresh vegetables.

Many people are hesitant to buy shawarma from stalls on the street, and this article is for those who really love and are not indifferent to the dish of oriental cuisine.

I have specially prepared a recipe for shawarma at home with a photo on my blog, plus recipes on how to properly prepare the sauce and pita bread yourself will be described below. This dish prepared at home is no worse, I’ll even say quite the opposite, it’s much tastier, because each of us will make it for ourselves, which means we’ll be giving away a piece of our soul. Here you will have 100% confidence in the quality of the ingredients used, because it is made in the conditions of your home, with your own caring hands. And you don’t need to deny yourself this weakness for fear of harming your stomach; you can easily prepare it at home in a short time.

Still not sure whether to buy this dish in street stalls? Finally, cast aside all your doubts and start preparing it yourself! Its preparation is not a complicated process at all, and the result will certainly please you and your family!

Ingredients:

• Chicken fillet – 500 gr
• Armenian lavash – 3 pcs
• young cabbage - 200 gr
• tomatoes - 2 pcs.
• sweet pepper - 1 piece
• fresh cucumbers - 2 pcs.
• garlic - 2 cloves
• sunflower oil - 3 tbsp. spoons
• parsley - 1/3 bunch
• mayonnaise - 100 milliliters
• ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
• salt and ground pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

First you need to prepare all the necessary products. After which we thoroughly rinse the meat and all the vegetables under running water, dry it and proceed.

For the marinade, we need to take a deep bowl and combine sunflower oil, ground pepper, salt, cinnamon in it and stir.

Cut the chicken fillet into strips and place in the marinade for a couple of hours.

After two hours, remove the chopped fillet from the marinade and fry in a frying pan in vegetable oil until crispy and golden brown.

Now cut all the vegetables into strips and chop the parsley.

We peel the garlic and pass it through a press, and then combine it with mayonnaise and grease the entire pita bread with the resulting mixture.

And we begin to lay out the filling of meat and vegetables.

Afterwards, wrap the pita bread in a tube. If the tube turns out to be long, then you can cut it in half and fry it in a frying pan or put it in the oven for a short time.

This completes the preparation of shawarma. Eat with pleasure!

Shawarma sauce

It prepares very quickly, you just need to mix the necessary ingredients. It turns out very tasty and can be stored in the refrigerator. I am sharing with you this simple sauce recipe.

Ingredients:

• Kefir - 4 tablespoons
• sour cream - 4 tablespoons
• mayonnaise - 4 tbsp. spoons
• garlic - 5-6 cloves
• ground red and black pepper - to taste
• cilantro - to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Peel the garlic and pass it through a press.

2. Finely chop the cilantro and combine with garlic.

3. Add kefir, sour cream, mayonnaise and spices there. Mix everything thoroughly.

4. And in order for all the flavors to mix, place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Shawarma sauce is ready.

Note: This sauce is perfect for other dishes, such as hot meat dishes and pizza. You can replace cilantro with tarragon or the well-known parsley, it’s up to you to choose. I do not recommend storing this sauce in the refrigerator for more than two days so that you do not need to cook it too much. I personally prepare it at a time, if you need more, it’s better to make a new one.

How to make lavash at home

The recipe for traditional preparation of lavash at home without yeast cannot be made without a tanir - a round Armenian stove, but it can also be prepared in a frying pan, where it also turns out to be very fragrant and tasty.

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 4 cups
• clean water - 2 glasses
• salt - 2 teaspoons.

Cooking method:

In this recipe, we need a deep bowl into which we pour two glasses of water and add salt, then mix it thoroughly until completely dissolved. Next, slowly add the sifted flour and constantly stir with a fork, and as soon as the dough becomes thicker, we begin to knead it with our hands. As a result, it should turn out thick and sticky to your hands. Let the dough rest for 30-40 minutes.

Pour flour onto the work surface and transfer the dough onto it, begin to knead it until it begins to stick to your hands.

We divide the dough into small parts and now begin to use a rolling pin to make very thin cakes, their thickness should not exceed 5 mm.

Place a dry, wide frying pan over medium heat and when it is hot, place a flatbread sprinkled with flour on it. Fry until lightly browned on both sides, just do not overcook, otherwise it will turn out dry.

To prevent the cake from puffing up while cooking in a frying pan, it must be held with a towel at those moments when bubbles appear.

As soon as the first pita bread is ready, place it on a flat plate and begin preparing the next one.

We leave the pita bread to cool, and then you can serve it instead of bread at the table, or use it to prepare some snacks.

How to wrap shawarma

We will need a round pita bread, lay it out on a flat surface and spread the filling just below its middle. Fold the side edges of the cake towards each other.

Next we bend the bottom edge.

And then we begin to carefully roll the pita bread into a roll so that the inner seam is exactly in the middle. In this case, the filling will not fall out of the shawarma.

And to secure the outer seam, you need to place it on the bottom of a hot frying pan.

Bon appetit!!!

Many of us love shawarma very much and buy it at the first kiosk we come across, which may not have a very favorable effect on our health. Shawarma prepared at home will not only be tasty, but also healthy. In this article we will share several recipes for preparing this dish with our own hands from quality ingredients.

Perhaps it’s no secret that shawarma came to us from the East. Shawarma is a national dish in Turkey; they have it as fried meat with various vegetable salads. You can wrap any meat of your choice in pita bread. In Turkey, it is customary to wrap lamb, and the method of preparing the national dish is slightly different from the version to which we are accustomed.

Preparing this dish is not very difficult and does not take much time, and we will try to help you with this.

Of course, the main ingredient is meat; in addition, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, herbs, mushrooms, canned corn and more are added. You can wrap whatever your heart desires in pita bread.

There are also gourmets who, apart from meat and sauce, do not add anything else. Of course, this is a matter of taste. To add a piquant taste, various seasonings are added to the dish.

Also, if desired, add sour cream or cheese, mayonnaise and other sauces. If you like greens, you can also add them, for example, lettuce, dill, green onions, cilantro.

When preparing shawarma at home with your own hands, you decide which recipe you choose, how many ingredients will be included in the dish and what you want to get in the end.

What is the secret of cooking?

Carefully inspect the pita bread that you purchased for making homemade shawarma. Study the production time. Lavash that has begun to dry cannot be used for this dish; you simply cannot wrap the filling in it.

Before preparing shawarma at home, you need to marinate the meat in advance. In order for shawarma to resemble the street (professional) version, it is necessary to fry the meat according to certain requirements. For this we need cast iron.

Before placing the meat in the pan, pat it dry with a napkin to remove excess water. No oil is used when frying; be careful not to burn the meat. Once you have wrapped the filling in the pita bread, lightly fry the dish in a dry cast iron skillet if possible.

Sauces for the dish

The most suitable sauces in this case are garlic and hot. There is no difficulty in preparing them. To prepare garlic sauce, we need sour cream, garlic, herbs and canned cucumber. To prepare hot sauce, we need to take tomato paste, parsley, sunflower oil, and lime juice.

To prepare, you need to chop everything and add as much sauce to the shawarma as your heart desires. In Turkey, it is customary to use several sauces at once in one dish. Or choose one that you definitely like.

If you want your shawarma to turn out like a professional’s at home, you need to learn how to roll it correctly so that the sauce won’t leak out of it.

To do this, you need to lay the pita bread on the table and sprinkle a little lemon juice.

Spread the pita bread with sauce or several at once. Place the filling, place the meat on top of the vegetables, and add the sauce. Wrap the filling in pita bread.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with several homemade shawarma recipes. We hope you find something you like.

Ingredients:

• fresh pita bread;
• 90 g fresh cabbage;
• 200 g veal;
• ketchup to taste;
• head of garlic;
• dill;
• parsley;
• 100 g homemade sour cream;
• 30 g carrots;
• sunflower oil;
• vinegar, salt, sugar, spices.

Cooking method

Finely chop the cabbage and cut the carrots into small slices. Chop the dill and parsley. Mix everything with adding oil.

Cut the veal into cubes.

Let's start preparing the sauce for the dish. For the sauce we mix sour cream, ketchup, chopped garlic. Mix thoroughly and start seasoning.

Lay out the pita bread, grease it with mayonnaise, add meat, salad, add sauce and roll up the pita bread.

Shawarma recipe at home

Ingredients for cooking:

• fresh pita bread;
• 3 tomatoes;
• onion greens;
• canned cucumber;
• soy sauce;
• 200 g pork;
• spices to taste;
• butter, homemade sour cream, mayonnaise, parsley, dill, cilantro.

Cooking method

Marinate the meat in sauce with vegetable oil. One hour will be enough for it to marinate. Cut it into small cubes and fry until golden brown. To prepare the sauce you will need sour cream and mayonnaise, add chopped garlic.

Cut the canned cucumber and tomato into cubes. We spread the pita bread, put slices of fried meat and prepared salad on it. Season everything with mayonnaise and wrap the pita bread. The dish is ready to eat. You can choose any sauce to your liking.

We will need:

• 500 g chicken fillet;
• carrot;
• fresh pita bread;
• homemade sour cream;
• 2 tomatoes;
• cabbage;
• garlic;
• low-fat mayonnaise;
• canned cucumber.

Cooking method

Cook the chicken over low heat. Leave until completely cool, cut into small pieces. Shred the cabbage, cut the tomatoes into cubes, chop the carrots into small strips, and cut the cucumber.

For the sauce we need sour cream, mayonnaise, chopped garlic.

Lay out the pita bread, grease it with the prepared sauce. We put pieces of meat, salad on it and season with sauce. Wrap the filling in pita bread. Shawarma is ready to eat.

Required ingredients:

• low-fat mayonnaise;
• 1 cucumber;
• 1 tomato;
• 200 g pork;
• dill, parsley, basil;
• 80 g carrots;
• fresh pita bread.

Cooking method

This shawarma is prepared in a hurry, even a beginner can handle it, so you can safely start cooking.

Cut the cucumber and tomato into cubes, grate the cheese. Cut the pork into cubes and fry until golden brown.

Place carrots, prepared salad on pita bread and season everything with sauce. Lay out the fried pork pieces and brush with mayonnaise again. Add cheese. Roll the filling into pita bread. The dish is ready to eat.

To prepare we will need:

• 3 potatoes;
• low-fat mayonnaise;
• 300 g fresh cabbage;
• 400 g pork;
• fresh pita bread;
• bulb;
• greenery;
• salt, pepper, spices.

Cooking method

Cut the pork into cubes and fry in a frying pan until golden brown. Add chopped onion.

Cut the potatoes into strips and add them to the meat. Chop the cabbage.

Lubricate the pita bread with mayonnaise, lay out the potatoes and meat. Add cabbage and pour sauce over everything.

Wrap the filling in pita bread, fry the prepared shawarma in a heated frying pan without sunflower oil. The dish is ready to eat.

Bon appetit!

3 recipes

There is hardly a person who has not tried or at least heard of shawarma. The fact is that this dish is simple, but remarkable in its satiety and taste, and is widely distributed throughout the world. The Middle East is considered the generally accepted homeland of shawarma, but you can also find analogues of shawarma in Germany, Mexico, and Africa. Of course, in different countries this dish is called differently, but the essence of shawarma always remains the same - it is a thin flatbread (lavash or pita) in which chopped vegetables and meat are wrapped. Shawarma also comes with various sauces, which can either be placed inside the flatbread or served separately. Shawarma is an excellent alternative to a sandwich, which is why it has become the No. 1 dish for lovers of outdoor recreation, tourists and business travelers. It is prepared in an elementary way, which I invite you to verify.

Classic shawarma

Ingredients:

• Dough for flatbreads:
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• Filling:
• 2 chicken legs
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 large cucumber
• 1/6 head of white cabbage
• For sauces:
• mayonnaise
• garlic
• ketchup
• adjika

How to prepare flatbread (lavash) for shawarma

• The vast majority of people who start reading my recipe, having reached this point, will exclaim: “I don’t understand why you fool yourself and prepare lavash, it’s sold in all stores?!” That's right, I also think that it is faster and more practical to use store-bought Armenian lavash, especially since it is much larger than what we can prepare at home, and therefore it is more convenient to wrap the filling in it. But I’ll tell you a terrible secret: this world is still full of places where people have never heard of supermarkets and Armenian lavash, but they also want to know the taste of shawarma, and with this I simply have to help them.
• Let's start preparing the lavash by pouring the flour into a small bowl. Then add water little by little (about 2/3 cup) and mix the flour at the same time. Add a spoonful of sunflower oil. If desired, you can add a pinch of salt.

• When we have formed a homogeneous mass, place our workpiece on a table sprinkled with flour and continue kneading it for at least another 5-7 minutes. All oriental bakers do this, because only thoroughly kneaded dough produces thin flatbreads.
• Wrap the kneaded dough in cling film or a plastic bag and leave for 15-20 minutes so that the gluten softens and swells. After this, the dough will become even more plastic and pliable.

• As you can see, the dough for pita bread is very, very simple. Roll out the finished dough into a thick sausage and divide it into 6 parts.

• Sprinkle the table with flour, place a cut piece of dough on it and roll it into a thin flat cake. The thickness of the cake should not exceed 3 millimeters, and the diameter should correspond to the bottom of the pan in which you will bake it.

• It’s convenient to stack raw flatbreads. So that, God forbid, they do not stick together, you should generously sprinkle them with flour or line them with parchment.
• Place the frying pan on the fire and heat it well. To bake flatbreads, it is better to use a thick cast-iron frying pan, as it heats up evenly over the entire area, and the flatbread is baked without burning anywhere.
• Shawarma flatbread is prepared without any oil or fat. So we place it directly on the heated metal and bake for half a minute on one side, then turn it over and bake for the same half a minute on the other. We remove one cake from the frying pan and immediately place a second one in its place.

• You should be careful not to let the flatbread dry out in the pan, otherwise it will become brittle and it will be impossible to wrap the filling in it.
• Place the finished cakes in a pile and cover with a towel so that they do not dry out and remain warm.

How to prepare shawarma filling

• For the filling, first prepare the meat. We will use chicken, although theoretically the shawarma recipe allows for lamb, beef, turkey, and even pork (in non-Muslim countries).
• The best way to use chicken is to use the legs. They are much juicier than brisket, which means the shawarma will be tastier.
• Since it is not possible to use a spit at home, we will cook the meat in a frying pan. Remove the skin, cut out the bones and veins from the legs, and flatten the meat. Fry the chicken in a small amount of vegetable oil until cooked.

• Literally a few seconds before the heat is turned off, add salt and sprinkle the chicken with spices (personally, I use the usual set of spices for chicken). This should never be done before, as the spices will simply burn in the frying pan.
• While the chicken is cooling, we begin making the vegetable part of the filling. To do this, wash the cucumber and tomatoes, peel the onions and carrots. For shawarma, it is best to use blue onions; they are more fragrant and not so bitter. Of course, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get some sweet Crimean onions, but they can’t always be found on the market.
• When the vegetables are washed and peeled, they should be cut. Tomatoes are cut into thin slices, onions into half rings, carrots and cucumbers into thin strips. Yes, we have completely forgotten about cabbage! The cabbage is finely chopped, as for frying or pickling. Here's another little secret: to make the chopped cabbage more juicy, sprinkle it with salt and lightly knead it with your hands.

• For real shawarma, sauces are also very important. The most common sauces we have are mayonnaise and ketchup. Of course, they can be used directly, without any improvements, but to make our shawarma more tasty, I suggest adding finely chopped garlic to the mayonnaise, and mixing ketchup in a 1:1 ratio with homemade adjika.

• The last preparatory stage is cutting the chicken, which has already cooled by this time. I suggest cutting it into thin strips. You've probably already noticed that all the ingredients of the filling are cut this way whenever possible. This is done so that they do not fall out of the shawarma while we are devouring it with appetite.


How to make shawarma

• Assembling the shawarma begins by applying a thin layer of mayonnaise with garlic to the central part of the flatbread. A little mixture of ketchup and adjika is spread over it.

• Next is a layer of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and cabbage. The order of these layers does not matter at all, but there is one exception - traditionally the last layer in shawarma is meat.

• After all the layers have been laid, roll the cake into a tight roll. It turns out this is such a very beautiful and appetizing homemade shawarma.

• If you used a large and thin pita bread for shawarma, then the filling is swaddled tightly in it: both ends are tucked in, and the pita bread itself wraps the filling in two layers. So you can safely take this shawarma with you on the road.
• If you prepared the flatbread at home, then naturally it turned out small, and therefore at the first opportunity it will strive to unfold. To avoid this, I suggest a few tricks. Firstly, each roll can be half-wrapped in a separate paper napkin. It will even turn out beautifully, and besides, your hands will remain clean. Secondly, you can tie the rolls with green onion feathers, as I did in cucumber rolls. Well, thirdly, you can stab the shawarma with a wooden skewer. Only in this case, do not forget to warn your household and guests about this not entirely edible detail.
• Yes, I almost forgot, pour the remaining mayonnaise with garlic and ketchup with adjika into sauce boats and also serve. Suddenly someone has a desire to dip shawarma in the sauce. By the way, cooled shawarma can be reheated in a dry frying pan without any problems. That's the whole shawarma recipe, bon appetit to you and your guests!

Shawarma with chicken and pepper

Here is another recipe for shawarma filling. Unlike the first recipe, the vegetables are fried here, so the shawarma turns out more satisfying and spicy. This filling goes especially well in the cool season, when you want something hot and filling.



Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts or 2 chicken legs
• 3 pcs. salad pepper
• 2 pcs. Luke
• 1 glass of tomato juice
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• salt to taste
• red hot pepper seasoning
• ground black pepper
• vegetable oil

1. Cut the onion into rings, cut the lettuce into strips. I had different colored peppers, so I used one red, one yellow and one green pepper. The shawarma turned out very tasty and beautiful. We do not cut the pepper very thinly.

2. First simmer the onion in a small amount of vegetable oil, then add the salad pepper. Simmer for 6-7 minutes over medium heat.

3. Add a glass of tomato juice or a glass of tomato sauce.

4. Stew vegetables in tomato. When the pepper becomes soft, add the fried chicken meat. The pepper should be soft, but not fall apart. By the way, you can also use canned peppers for this filling; in this case, heat treatment of the pepper is reduced to a minimum.

5. Add chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste. It is important to make the filling sufficiently salty and spicy. Just without fanaticism))).

6. Simmer for another minute and remove from heat. When the filling has cooled a little, roll up the shawarma.
7. Place a few tablespoons of filling in the center of the flatbread. Fold the bottom edge.

8. We wrap one side and then the other to make an envelope. To prevent the shawarma from opening, you can pierce it with a wooden skewer.

9. We wrap the rest of the cakes in a similar way. Since the filling is hot, this shawarma can be eaten right away.

Lenten shawarma

And this is a shawarma recipe for those who fast and cannot eat meat. The filling is vegetable with the addition of beans. It turns out nourishing and tasty!

Ingredients:

• 3 pcs. fresh or canned salad peppers
• 2 pcs. Luke
• 1 glass of tomato juice
• 1 cup boiled beans
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• salt to taste
• red hot pepper (seasoning)
• ground black pepper
• vegetable oil (optional)

1. We prepare the flatbreads as usual, without eggs, or even without vegetable oil. If desired, add seeds to the dough.
2. We make the filling almost as in the previous recipe: simmer the onion, add lettuce and tomato juice. When the pepper becomes soft, add a glass of boiled beans. Salt the filling and season with spices to make the filling piquant. Simmer everything together for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
3. Roll up the shawarma and enjoy the tasty and healthy dish! The result is a complete dish, it contains not only vegetables and carbohydrates, but also vegetable protein, which beans are rich in.