Shish Tawook

It’s been a rough couple of days and respite came in the form of this shish tawook to lift up my mood.

Got hurt badly, with black blood scars on my hand and a severe pain in ears and jaw. Trying to recover from it. Feeling really low and awful. While I am recovering from the injury and going through this horrible pain, I still wanted to post this recipe. That way through my post I thought I will talk to you guys and share my pain!

There is something very comforting about Middle Eastern dishes. From the subtle flavorful pilaf, to the spice fragrant Kebabs to lip smacking baklava. Not to forget the diverse variations of dips, spreads, sauces from different regions of the Middle East.

Mostly in the Lebanon cuisine, shish normally uses lamb. But a lot of people are switching to white meat in place of red meat due to health aspects. The popularity of chicken around the world made people to adapt and use boneless chicken for shish tawook. This Lebanon grilled chicken skewers is very simple to make with a lot of flavors in it. The marination of the meat over night yields the most tender and juicy chicken.

Ingredients (MY VERSION)

500 grams boneless chicken

¼ cup thick yogurt(curd)

1 ½ tablespoon paprika

4 cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoon olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground pepper powder

Salt to taste

Capsicum cut into cubes (I used all 3 colors, use of capsicum is optional)

Onion, cut into cubes (optional)

Method

1. Mix all the liquid and dry ingredients together. Whisk well. Add chicken cubes and mix well to coat all the chicken pieces.
2. Cover and marinate over night in the fridge.
3. Next day, fire up your outdoor grill.
4. Immerse skewer sticks in water for about 15 minutes. If you are using metal skewers rod, you can just go ahead with the next step.
5. Skewer the chicken cubes along with cubed capsicum and cubed onions. Pour the remaining marinate over the skewed chicken.
6. Place on hot grill and grill until meat begins to brown. Turnover and grill the other side too. Once meat is grilled on both sides, remove from grill.
7. Serve it hot with pita bread and garlic mayo.