How to Make Nigerian Shawarma [Recipe & Video]

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Nigerian shawarma is a tasty snack has become a popular and wanted street meal. It is bread with beef/chicken and vegetable fillings.

The Nigerian homemade type obviously will taste either better or less enticing than the ones made in cafes and street stands and it is made in the Nigerian style.

In this post, you’ll learn how to make shawarma that tastes good and still have your personal touch.

How to Make Nigerian Shawarma

Ingredients

Chicken breasts
Salt
Seasoning cube
Curry powder
Dried thyme
Onion powder
Garlic salt
Crushed chillies – roughly ground dried shombo
Lemon juice
Water

For the wrap

Flat bread
Tomatoes
Red onions
Cabbage
Lettuce – optional: not a huge fan of lettuce, so I left it out
Julienne carrots
Tatashe – red bell pepper
Jalapeno – for the heat, you can substitute with green chillies of ata rodo
Dry pepper
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Salad cream – optional
Foil paper

Directions

1. Season the chicken breasts to your taste preferences and leave in the fridge to marinade for 30 – 45 minutes.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of oil (preferably olive oil) to a frying pan or griddle pan if you choose to grill it and allow it to get very hot. Take the chicken breasts out of the fridge and place in.

[Pro Tip: Allow it to sear for 2 minutes. 1 minute in, take a sharp knife and make incisions on the chicken breast to allow the heat to penetrate deep into the flesh the pan.]

Flip over and allow the other part to sear for another 2 minutes, repeating the incisions in the step above.

3. Now, both sides have seared, flip again for another 2 minutes on each side. Chicken breasts are notorious for being dry. For some recipes, you are even advised to stuff it with moisture creating ingredients like lemon butter, to keep it nice and moist. I don’t do that, but you could if you wish.

[Pro Tip: If your chicken breasts are small and flat, 4 minutes on each side should do. That’s it. Take it off the heat, let it rest for 2 – 4 minutes i.e. half the time you cooked it with before serving, to allow the flesh to release the juices.]

In an enclosed oven, the chicken breast will be kept moist and cook slowly. It only needs to be in the oven for another 3 minutes or so.

Before it went into the oven, to keep it extra moist, add lemon juice and water.

And when it’s done……? It’s so perfect! The result is a flesh that is white, tender and very moist. The lemon juice would also give t a nice touch.

4. Take the chicken breasts out of the hot pan and slice longitudinally on a chopping board, set aside and leave it to rest.

5. While the chicken is in the oven, continue chopping and prepping the veggies.

6. Get your flat bread and heat it up on a recently turned off hob. You could also do it on the lowest heat if you have a gas burner. This is just to toast the outer side of the flat bread nicely.

7. Spread out foil paper; place the toasted flat bread on it. Lay over the veggies, in whatever order you wish. You can start with carrots and cabbage, followed by tomatoes, tatashe (red bell pepper), red onion rings and jalapeno.

Don’t over fill.

8. Place the sliced chicken breasts on top, and scoop on mayonnaise and Ketchup. If you like spice, sprinkle on some dry pepper.

9. Roll the wrap gently. If you filled the wrap too much, you may have some problems with rolling, just do it carefully and you will be fine.

10. Once rolled, wrap with the foil paper. Alternatively, you can roll the wrap with the foil paper from the start, saving you from doing it twice.

Once the wrap is rolled in foil, tuck in the ends, place on an oven tray and grill in the oven for 5 – 7 minutes.

Alternatively, you can place the wrap rolled in foil in a griddle and turn every 2 minutes or so. If you have those griddle that close upon themselves, even better.

Another option would be to heat it up the wrap in a frying pan. Remember to use the foil covering though, just to protect the filling from spilling out.

11. After 7 minutes, unwrap the foil and you’ve got a delicious Nigerian chicken shawarma staring back at ya. It’s okay if your veggies are still crunchy, but warm.

How to Make Nigerian Shawarma: Video

Health Benefits of Nigerian Shawarma

It Contains Healthy Fats

Nigerian shawarma has a rich fatty fat. The polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the example of rich fats present in this sandwich. They have fewer fats properties such as butter and lard.

Rather than using these fats ingredients, the use of healthy fats and olive oil is being substituted in order to prevent using health risk fats.

An Abundance of Protein and Carbohydrate

A well-prepared Nigerian shawarma has about 25g of carbohydrates in it. This simply means that when one eats this sandwich, he/she is certain of consuming about 25g of carbohydrates into the body system.

The nutrient wholly comes from the pita bread, used while preparing it. It contains about 30 to 35g of protein, the presence of protein helps in the bodybuilding. It also assists your workouts in building perfect muscles.

It Contains Calories

This time, the presence of calories that will be present in your Nigerian shawarma will depend on the number of certain ingredients used while preparing it. However, per beef or chicken sandwich contains about 600 calories, it also helps in generating admirable muscles in the body.

Important note

As much as Nigerian shawarma is a nutritiously packed snack, note that eating too much of it is unhealthy, since it packs high calorie content.

When eaten in excess, shawarma can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels and put your at risk of becoming overweight or obese.

So how do you enjoy Nigerian Shawarma?

One way to enjoy the snack without the fear of high calorie is to share with a friend or your siblings. That way, you have avoided consuming about 1000kcal out of the recommended 1900-2000kcal/day for an adult.

Remember, it is meant to be a snack and most likely, you will be consuming other meals that will add to your calorie and eventually increase your weight wish if not properly controlled might result into serious health conditions.

Check Out More Nigerian Recipes