Shish Tawook with Toum, Pita & Pickles

Name: Shish Tawook with Toum, Pita & Pickles
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Lebanese & Levantine
Ingredients: 2 lb boneless chicken breasts, in 1½-inch cubes; ½ cup plain yogurt; 2 lemons, juiced; 1 bulb plus 2 garlic cloves; 4 pitas; pickles; 2 tomatoes, sliced; a handful of parsley; ½ cup neutral oil; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp allspice; ½ tsp cinnamon; ½ tsp ground ginger; ½ tsp dried oregano; ¼ tsp nutmeg; salt

DinnerLebanese & Levantine45 minServes 4715 kcal61 g protein

Photo: Garrett Ziegler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Lebanese grill-house chicken: chunks marinated in yogurt, lemon, garlic, tomato paste and warm spices, charred on skewers and served with whipped garlic toum, warm pita and crunchy pickles.

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Ingredients

2 lb boneless chicken breasts, in 1½-inch cubes
½ cup plain yogurt
2 lemons, juiced
1 bulb plus 2 garlic cloves
4 pitas
pickles
2 tomatoes, sliced
a handful of parsley

From your pantry: ½ cup neutral oil, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp allspice, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp dried oregano, ¼ tsp nutmeg, salt.

Instructions

Mix the yogurt, olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 4 crushed garlic cloves, tomato paste, all the spices and 1½ tsp salt. Toss the chicken in it and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to 8.
For the toum, blend the remaining peeled garlic cloves (about 10) with ½ tsp salt in a small food processor until finely minced. With the motor running, drizzle in the neutral oil very slowly, alternating with the remaining lemon juice a spoonful at a time, until thick, white and fluffy like mayonnaise.
Thread the chicken onto skewers (soak wooden ones for 20 minutes). Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high.
Grill the skewers, turning every few minutes, until charred in spots and 165°F inside, 10 to 14 minutes.
Warm the pita on the grill for 30 seconds a side. Serve the chicken with pita, toum, pickles, tomato and parsley.

Tip: If the toum breaks and turns runny, start again with 1 egg white (or an ice cube) in a clean bowl and slowly blend the broken sauce back in. No grill? Cook the chicken unskewered in a hot cast-iron pan, 6 to 8 minutes.