Celebrate National Shawarma Day with this mouth-watering Turkey recipe!

Shawarma joints have become a staple in cities across the globe, but those in the know will tell you that the best ones are still to be found in Israel, where slices of sizzling seasoned meat are cut from a vertical spit into a pita or wrap and garnished with fresh Israeli salad, diced tomatoes and pickles and oozing with hummus, tahini, or amba mango sauce.

Halo Teiman in Jerusalem is legendary for its veal shawarma, served with hummus, babaganoush and grilled onions, while 6 Shamai Street, located in the heart of the city, offers two types of shawarma with hand-cut fries, hummus and kibbeh. 

In Tel Aviv, Night Kitchen offers an upmarket spin on the fast food classic, with diced fish fillet paired with green tahini and yoghurt, while chef Harel Zakaim at Sultana serves a groundbreaking vegan shawarma with forest mushroom ‘meat’. 

Hakosem, an acclaimed street food restaurant in Tel Aviv, is famous for both its schawarma and falafel.

For more information, visit Goisrael.com

Ingredients

• 500g (shawarma) turkey thighs (boneless)
• 1 tablespoon shawarma seasoning (or, to make the seasoning from scratch, combine 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tsp cardamom powder and 50g of lamb fat, chopped (optional))
• Olive oil
• Lamb fat
• Pita bread 
• Salad of fresh cucumber and diced tomatoes 
• Pickles 
• Chopped spring onions
• Tahini 

Shawarma spice mix

•  ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom (or cloves)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 ½  tsp ground turmeric
•  ½  tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 Tbsp ground cumin
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper (or  ½  tsp ground black pepper)
• 1–2 tsp Baharat

Baharat spice mix 

• 1 tablespoon black ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander 
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1½ tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
2. Season the meat with the spice mix of your choice.   
3. Place seasoned meat in hot oven for 25 minutes.
4. While the meat cooks, heat a pan with a little olive oil and add lamb fat and season with salt.
5. Remove the roasted meat from the oven slice. 
6. Mix the lamb fat and add the shawarma chunks to the pan.
7. Season with the shawarma seasoning and
   a little cardamom and stir until cooked.
8. Halve the pitas, add the freshly- chopped cucumber and tomatoes, season with salt, drizzle with olive oil and arrange the shawarma.
9. Serve with tahini and chopped spring onions.