Tender, spiced lamb meat with a bright sauce and frsh flatbreads. This shawarma lamb recipe is a delicious dish that rewards you massively for your effort! It takes some time, but the processes are all simple and easy. The results will surely impress friends and family though! If you like this you might enjoy some of my other slow cooked recipes, such as my birria tacos!

Shawarma Lamb

Shawarma originated in the Ottoman Levant during the early 19h century. It derived from doner, a cooking technique that involves stacking thin slices of meat on a spit and roasting. Cooked meat from the outside would then be cut off to be served on breads or with rice etc. It was traditionally made with lamb or mutton, but nowadays meats like chicken are common too.

Shawarma is now a hugely popular street food all around the middle east. It has also spread further round the world with the diaspora from these areas. For home cooking, not everybody has the space and equipment to make it on a spit. It is then common to prepare it by roasting the meat and shredding or slicing afterwards.

My Recipe

As mentioned before, my recipe slow roasts the meat. This is based on a recipe I originally discovered and started making a few years ago from RecipeTin Eats. I have tweaked and adjusted it over the years to tailor it to my own tastes, and I think it is now perfect.

This recipe makes extensive use of middle eastern spices. These are cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, chilli powder and cardamom. I also use fresh garlic and rosemary too. Rosemary is definitely not traditional, but it works so well with lamb and adds a lovely herby note to this.

The sauce is nice and easy. It’s a yoghurt based sauce with lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder and fresh herbs. For this I use coriander, mint and basil. I think these give the best blend of aromatic flavours and mediterranean vibes. It definitely needs more coriander and basil than mint, as this can be overpowering.

The flat breads are very easy to make. Melting butter into milk and mixing with flour is all that’s really needed. A couple of minutes of kneading and 30 minutes to rest at room temp and it’s ready to be rolled out! I like to add some nigella seeds to it too for little bursts of flavour, but that is optional.

Shawarma Lamb Flatbreads with A Herb Sauce

Tender, spiced lamb meat with a bright sauce and frsh flatbreads. This shawarma lamb recipe is a delicious dish that rewards you massively for your effort!

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the Lamb

• 1.5 kg Lamb Leg On the bone
• 2 tbsp Cumin Powder
• 2 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
• 2 tsp Chilli Powder
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Cardamon Powder
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 sprigs Rosemary
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 500 ml Water

For the Sauce

• 4 tbsp Greek Yoghurt
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1.5 tsp Garlic Powder
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 2 handfuls Basil Leaves
• 1 handful Coriander Leaves
• 0.5 handfuls Mint Leaves

For the Flatbreads

• 500 g Plain Flour
• 300 ml Milk
• 80 g Butter
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 0.5 tsp Nigella Seeds

Method

 

For the Lamb

1. Finely chop the rosemary and grate the garlic. Mix in a bowl with the spices, lemon juice and olive oil. Smother over the lamb and set aside for at least 30 mins, but ideally overnight.
2. Heat the oven to 160°C.
3. Place the lamb in a roasting tray on a rack and pour 500ml of water into the bottom. Cover the tray tightly with foil and put into the oven for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours, remove and uncover. Heat the oven up to 180°C. Baste the lamb leg in the juices and top up with another 100ml or so of water if the level has dropped. Place back in the oven for another 30 minutes to crisp up on the outside.

For the Sauce

1. Add the sauce ingredients to a blender and process into a smooth, mixed sauce.
2. Taste test and tweak with more salt, acid or herbs if needed. The sauce should be easily pourable, tangy, fresh and aromatic with a nice light green colour.

For the Flatbreads

1. Heat the milk in a small pan over a medium low hear and add in the butter. Stir consistently to let the butter melt and mix in.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a lage mixing bowl and pour the milk and butter in. Mix by hand until it forms a shaggy mix.
3. Add in the nigella seeds and knead by hand for a couple of minutes, until the dough comes together. Cover with plastic film and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. After the dough has rested, remove it and separate into around 12 equally sized balls.
5. Heat a large pan to high heat and flour your work surface. Roll each ball out into a wide and thin disk, around 3mm thick.
6. Place the dough disk into the pan and start rolling out the next one. When the flatbread starts to bubble (about a minute), flip it over and cook for the same amount of time.
7. When the flatbread is done, put it on a plate and cover with foil while you roll out and cook the remaining breads.