Shawarma is one of the most popular Middle Eastern street food that is usually stuffed with grilled meat, a cooling sauce, and some tomatoes and onions. So for Day 3, for my alphabet C, I made the vegetarian version of this very popular street food. Vegetarian Shawarma is made with roasted chickpeas and topped with a tahini yogurt sauce and a simple chopped vegetable salad. This was our weekend lunch and the boys could not stop eating the roasted chickpeas. I had only roasted 2 cans of chickpeas and they had already finished half of it snacking. To finish the wrap, I had to make another batch of roasted chickpeas. I had plans to make my own pita, but the time got the best of me and I had to use the store-bought pitas. I used some whole wheat pitas as well as regular white pitas. Instead of just using sliced onions and tomatoes, I made some chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and parsley. The sauce takes the wrap to the next level. Do not skip the sauce. Just plain yogurt or sour cream would not make up for the flavor of the sauce. It cools down the wrap as well as gives it the much-needed light bite. I used tahini, Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley for the sauce. We could use sour cream or even regular yogurt instead of Greek Yogurt. Try this roasted red pepper hummus instead of the sauce for a different flavor. The sandwich was so delicious that I had to make a second batch of almost everything. Just as a heads-up, make sure you make enough of everything. The leftovers store very well for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator if they manage to remain that long.
Ingredients to make Chickpea Shawarma Wrap
To Make the Spiced Chickpeas -
Chickpeas - 2 cans (15 oz cans, drained and rinsed) Red chili powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - ½ tsp Cumin powder - 1 tsp Garlic powder - ½ tsp Olive oil - 2 tbsp Salt - to taste (watch if the chickpeas have salt in it)
To make the Tahini Yogurt Sauce -
Tahini - ¼ cup Greek yogurt - ½ cup Lemon juice - 3 tbsp Garlic - 1 large clove Parsley - 2 tbsp Salt - to taste Pepper - to taste
To make the Salad -
Cucumber - 1 cup (finely chopped) Tomato - ½ cup (finely chopped) Red onion - ¼ cup (finely chopped) Parsley - 2 tablespoon (finely chopped) Salt - to taste Pepper - to taste
To Assemble the Chickpeas Shawarma Wrap -
Pita bread - 4 (cut in half) Roasted chickpeas - refer to the recipe below Tahini Yogurt Sauce - refer to the recipe below Chopped Salad - refer to the recipe below
Procedure to make Vegetarian Shawarma
To make the Spiced Chickpeas -
Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas well in running water. Place the rinsed chickpeas in between layers of kitchen towel and dry them.
If using fresh chickpeas, soak them overnight and then cook them before roasting.
Place the dried chickpeas in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and spread it on a foiled-lined baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 400 F and roast the chickpeas for about 15 to 20 minutes until crisp and crunchy. Make sure to shake and mix the chickpeas once in 5 minutes for even cooking.
Keep this aside until ready to assemble.
To make the Tahini Yogurt Sauce -
Blend all the ingredients.
Adjust the consistency by adding a little bit of water if needed.
Check the seasonings and adjust them based on your taste.
To make the Salad -
Chop all the ingredients and combine them in the bowl. Add the salt and pepper needed and mix well.
The salad is now ready to assemble.
To Assemble the Chickpea Shawarma Wrap | Vegetarian Shawarma Sandwich -
I used store-bought pita bread to make the sandwich/wrap. Warm the pita for about 15 seconds in the microwave and then cut them in half.
Open the pita to form a pocket and then stuff it with roasted spice chickpeas and the salad.
Drizzle the Tahini Yogurt Sauce and serve immediately.
Notes and Observation -
This works great as a weeknight meal. All the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time and kept until ready to assemble.
Pita can be opened up as a pocket and stuffed inside or can just be used as a wrap.
The ingredients can also be served as a salad in a bowl. In that case, we could use sliced pita pieces along with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. We could also add some Tabbouleh to the blend.
More Middle Eastern Recipes
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