Shish Taouk (Garlic Chicken Skewers with Toum and Pitta)

Ingredients

• 700 g chicken thigh fillets
• 100 ml natural yoghurt
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 lemon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 160 ml sunflower oil
• 4 pitta breads
• 3 tomatoes
• 4 gherkins

Method

1. 1

   Cut the chicken thigh fillets into 3cm pieces. Mix with the natural yoghurt, tomato purée, 4 crushed garlic cloves, the juice of 1 lemon, the paprika, 1 tbsp of the sunflower oil and 1 tsp salt, and leave to marinate for 15 minutes (or up to a day in the fridge). Soak 8 wooden skewers in water.

2. 2

   For the toum, crush the remaining 4 garlic cloves to a paste with ½ tsp salt and put it in a tall jug with the juice of the second lemon and 1 tbsp cold water. Blend with a stick blender, pouring in the rest of the sunflower oil in a thin, steady stream, until thick, white and fluffy like mayonnaise.

3. 3

   Heat the grill to high. Thread the chicken onto the skewers and lay them on a foil-lined tray.

4. 4

   Grill for 12-15 minutes, turning every few minutes, until charred at the edges and cooked through with no pink remaining.

5. 5

   Warm the pitta breads under the grill for 30 seconds and slice the tomatoes and gherkins. Serve the chicken in or alongside the pitta with the toum, tomatoes and gherkins.