Clementine Day of @somethingsiliketocook has kindly shared her recipe for Chicken Pitas. Charred chicken, roasted & pickled onion and garlicky yoghurt all wrapped up in a freshly made pita.
Serves 4
Ingredients Chicken:
4 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
4 tablespoons of natural or Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon of dried salt bush
2 teaspoons of fresh oregano, minced
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Red Onion Quick Pickle:
1 red onion
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 pinch of salt (approx. ½ a teaspoon)
Preserved Lemon & Garlic Yoghurt Sauce:
1 quarter of a preserved lemon, flesh removed
3-4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
4 tablespoons of natural or Greek yoghurt
Roast brown onion:
1 brown onion
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pinch of salt (approx. ½ a teaspoon)
Yoghurt pitas:
1 ½ cups of plain flour
1 cup of natural or Greek yoghurt
1 pinch of salt (approx. ½ a teaspoon)
To serve:
Fresh parsley, to garnish
Fresh mint, to garnish
Feta, to crumble on top
Method:
Combine the chicken marinade ingredients; the yoghurt, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, salt bush and garlic into a bowl and combine.
Place the chicken thighs into a ziplock bag and pour in the marinade. Use your hands to squish the marinade all around the chicken.
Refrigerate and leave to marinade for 2-3 hours or up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Prepare the red onion quick pickle. Peel and slice red onion.
Place in a bowl or jar with sugar and salt and top with apple cider vinegar until submerged. Set aside for at least 30 minutes. This will keep well in the fridge for a week or so.
Prepare yoghurt sauce; firstly, taste test your preserved lemon. They are all different and some are much stronger than others so please adjust quantity based on your personal taste. Remove the flesh from your preserved lemon and finely dice or mince, along with your garlic.
Combine the yoghurt, minced garlic and preserved lemon in a small bowl. Set aside.
For the roast brown onion, peel and roughly chop your onion and toss in a small baking dish with the olive oil and salt.
Roast in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden and crispy on edges.
Time to prepare our pita breads. Combine flour and salt in a bowl and add yoghurt. Combine with a fork and turn out onto a floured surface.
Knead until it comes together. Divide into 4.
Roll each quarter into a 20-25cm round.
Heat a pan until very hot (non-stick is easiest for this but a well-seasoned cast iron pan works well too).
Cook pitas for a few minutes on each side, until bubbling and browned. Set aside.
Heat a griddle pan or bbq and cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side, until nice charred lines appear and some golden/crispy bits on the edges form.
To serve, smear the garlicky yoghurt on the bottom of your pita, top with sliced chicken, roast onions, pickled onions and then tear some parsley and mint and scatter over the top. Followed by some crumbled feta. Enjoy for lunch over the coming days.
