One of the most recognizable Middle Eastern ethnic foods. This delicacy may get confused sometimes with the Greek Gyro but there is a major difference in the spices used and how meat is processed. The Lebanese version as described here is by far the tastiest in the world. I assure you that this is the original shawarma recipe that is being sold all over many famous restaurants and I'd like to say that it is a very well kept secret.
Servings: 10 sandwiches
1 kilo faux filet (Cut the beef into 5 cm stripes long by no more than 1 cm thickness.)
-Marinade-:
1/2 cup red vinegar
1finjen or 1/4 cup cooking oil
1 finjen or1/4 lemon juice (do not use fresh lemon juice) ( use something like junal hamud) (http://www.junal.com/single-product.php?id=6)
1 big onion small-diced
1 tablespoon "heaped" shawarma spice "preferably Abido brand"
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 wara2 ghar (bay leaves)
*Zaref miskeh (mastic) crushed as powder
Mix all and marinade meat overnight.
---To make sandwiches you'll need---:
10 Lebanese shawarma bread loaves "those are of a special size, bakeries have them on demand"
1 onion sliced and rubbed with 1 TBS of **Sumac
1 parsley bouquet "roughly shopped" (mix them with the onion-sumac) (see pic below)
Lebanese tahini sauce (***tarator) (see pic below)
2 tomatos sliced and grilled
5 cucmber pickles thinly sliced (kabis)
*Miskeh (mastic) is a natural, licorice-flavored resin from the pistacia lenliscus tree that is used to flavor sweets. It must be pulverized with a mortar and pestle before using. We also call it arabic gum base. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastic_%28plant_resin%29)
**The Sumac is a dark red powder, with a particular lemony taste - See pic below
***Tahini Sauce Ingredients (tarator):
2 teaspoons of Tahini paste
1 cup of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
3 gloves of garlic, crushed
a dash of Salt
Mix all the marinade ingredients, add to a bowl and mix well with the meat, cover and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
Put like 4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wide pan and heat well, remove 1/2 the meat from the marinade and grill them on the pan, when light brown remove them and add the other half of the meat (make the quantity in 2 batches).
The other method is to cook covered in the oven on 200c for 1.5 hours, then open the cover and cook another 15 min so the excess liquids evaporate.
--To make a sandwich--:
Open a loaf of bread, spread "Onion-Sumac-Parsley" mix on it (like 1 tablespoon), add grilled shawarma meat, cover meat with grilled tomatos, add a couple of pickle slices and spread like 3 tablespoons of tarator, roll and enjoy.
Free Recipe provided by: Zouein Family Recipes © 2025
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