Turkish chicken doner

Name: Turkish chicken doner
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 1.2 kg boneless chicken thighs, skin on; 150 g full-fat yogurt; 100 ml whole milk; 1 medium onion, grated with juice; 4 cloves garlic cloves, crushed; 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsp dried oregano; 2 tsp sweet paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1.5 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 2 tsp fine salt; 4 pieces lavash or pide bread; 1 medium red onion, sliced paper thin; 1 tsp sumac; 20 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 2 medium tomato, sliced

Yogurt and milk marinated chicken thighs, stacked, roasted and shaved into thin ribbons the way Istanbul doner shops do it, finished on lavash with sumac onions.

90 min totalmildmedium

Instructions

1
Trim the thighs so each one lies flat and is roughly the same thickness. Leave the skin on: it renders during roasting and keeps the stack moist.
2
Whisk yogurt, milk, grated onion and its juice, garlic, olive oil, oregano, paprika, cumin, black pepper and salt into a loose marinade.
3
Coat the thighs thoroughly, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. Do not go past 24 hours or the texture turns soft.
4
Thread the thighs onto a vertical spit, or stack them flat in a loaf tin lined with baking paper, pressing each layer down hard to remove air pockets.
5
Roast at 200 C fan for 45 to 55 minutes, until the outside is deep gold and the centre of the stack reads 75 C on a probe thermometer.
6
Rest the stack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile toss the sliced red onion with sumac, a pinch of salt and the chopped parsley.
7
Shave the stack with long downward strokes of a sharp knife, taking thin ribbons rather than chunks.
8
Return the shavings to a hot dry pan for 60 seconds to crisp the edges.
9
Warm the lavash, load with meat, sumac onions and tomato, roll tightly and press on the hot pan for a minute per side.

Notes

The milk in the marinade is not optional: it tenderises without the sharp tang of a heavy yogurt mix, which is what separates Turkish doner from Lebanese shawarma. Stack the thighs skin side up so rendering fat bastes the layers below. Rest the cooked stack 10 minutes before shaving or the juices run out onto the board.

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