Stranger Foods

Pulled lamb shawarma sandwich

Serves 8 | Prep 30 mins | Cook 5 hr 30 mins

Slow-cooked lamb, piled into a warm pita with all the condiments you care for: this is the ultimate shawarma sandwich. Once cooked, the lamb keeps in the fridge so don’t worry if there are fewer than eight of you for that first sandwich. The lamb is also great as a proper meal, rather than a sandwich, served as it is with a selection of sides: fattoush, butternut squash and a crisp green salad makes just one great combination.

Source: Falastin

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

3 onions, 1 roughly chopped and the other 2 quartered and peeled, into wedges, as always
2 heads garlic, 1 cut in half horizontally, and 8 cloves from the second heads roughly chopped
2½ cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
20 g parsley, roughly chopped
1½ tbsp ground cumin
1½ tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp cider vinegar
60 ml olive oil
2-2½ kg lamb shoulder, bone in
700 ml chicken stock
½ lemon
Salt and black pepper

Sumac yogurt

200 g Greek-style yoghurt
60 g tahini
1½ tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp sumac

To serve

200 g thinly sliced plum tomatoes
1 g red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
10 g picked parsley leaves
5 g picked mint leaves
100 g shatta
8 pita breads

Instructions

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First make the spice paste. Put the chopped onion into a food processor along with the chopped garlic and ginger. Pulse until finely minced, then add the parsley and spices. Pulse for about , until just combined. Scrape down the sides, then add the vinegar, oil, 2¼ teaspoons of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Pulse to form a coarse paste, then transfer to a nonmetallic container large enough to hold the lamb.
Pat the lamb dry and pierce liberally all over with a small, sharp knife. Add it to the spice paste and coat generously, so that all sides are covered. Cover with foil and leave to marinate, refrigerated, overnight.
Take the lamb out of the fridge about an hour before going into the oven: you want it to be more like room temperature rather than fridge-cold.
Preheat the oven to 140°C fan.
Put the remaining onions and head of garlic into the centre of a large roasting tray and pour over the chicken stock. Sit the lamb on top of the vegetables, cover tightly with foil and bake for . Remove from the oven, discard the foil and bake for more, increasing the oven temperature to 160°C fan towards the last of cooking time. The lamb is ready when it is fork-tender and easily pulls away from the bone. Set aside to cool slightly, about , before using two forks to roughly shred the lamb directly in the pan, gathering as much of its juices as possible. Transfer the shredded lamb, onions, garlic cloves and any of the pan juices to a serving bowl. Squeeze over the lemon juice and set aside.
While the lamb is in the oven, prepare the sumac yoghurt. Put the yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of water, the sumac and ¼ teaspoon of salt into a bowl and whisk well to combine.
When ready to serve, lay out all the various condiments, along with the pita, to let everyone make up their own shawarma sandwich.

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