The classic chicken shawarma

The one from the stand down the road: soft spiced chicken thigh, cabbage and carrot, fresh vegetables and white sauce in thin flatbread.

Method

Cut the thighs into strips about 2 cm wide. Mix with the oil, lemon juice, spices, crushed garlic and salt. Marinate from 1 hour to overnight in the fridge.
Heat a dry pan (cast iron is best) until very hot. Sear the chicken in batches for 4–5 minutes, leaving it undisturbed for the first couple of minutes so a crust forms. Set aside and chop finer.
Shred the cabbage thinly, salt it and scrunch it by hand so it softens. Grate the carrot coarsely. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into thin strips and discard the watery tomato core.
Warm the flatbread for a few seconds in a dry pan. Spread white sauce in a strip just below the centre of the sheet.
Layer on: cabbage and carrot, meat, cucumber and tomato. Add hot sauce to taste.
Wrap it: fold the bottom edge over the filling, then the sides, and roll up tightly.
Toast the finished wrap seam-side down in a dry pan for 2–3 minutes a side until golden.

No time to marinate? At least toss the meat in the spices and oil just before cooking — the flavour will still beat plain chicken.
For a “spit” aroma, drop a knob of butter and a crushed garlic clove into the pan at the end and baste the meat.

Hot, straight away, with extra sauce and pickled vegetables. A wrap cut in half is easier to eat and looks good at the cut.