Lamb shawarma pita

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Lamb shawarma has a deeper, richer flavour than chicken and feels especially generous in warm pita bread. The marinade does a lot of the work, but the real trick is cooking the lamb until it is tender and edged with caramelised spice.

Serves: 6 people

Preparation time: 180 min

Ingredients

• Lamb shoulder or leg, thinly sliced – 1 kg
• Plain yogurt – 120 g
• Water – 60 ml
• Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
• White vinegar – 1 tbsp
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Onion, chopped – 1
• Garlic, minced – 3 cloves
• Ground cumin – 1 tsp
• Ground coriander – 1 tsp
• Pita breads – 8
• Tomato, onion and cucumber – for serving

Method

1. Blend or stir the yogurt, water, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper into a loose marinade.
2. Coat the sliced lamb thoroughly and leave it in the fridge for several hours. Lamb really benefits from that extra time, because the seasoning has to work through a richer cut of meat.
3. Cook the lamb in a very hot pan or under the grill until tender and browned in places. Turn it as needed, but do not move it constantly or it will not colour properly.
4. Let the meat rest briefly, then chop it into manageable strips if needed.
5. Warm the pitas and fill them with lamb, onion, tomato and cucumber. Add yogurt sauce, tahini or chilli sauce if you like.