This is one of the easiest most festive chicken dishes in the Middle Eastern banquets. It sure adds a smile on everyone’s face specially the little faces. It has a special charm with these bamboo skewers, that really makes everyone want to have some.
I know that you’ve probably seen tens – or may be more- of recipes for chicken skewers before and some claim to be from the Middle East and has some soy sauce in it or other stuff that do not belong to the Middle Eastern kitchen, plus some people say it goes with the name Chicken Kebab or Kabob.
Chicken skewers goes in the Middle East by the name Shish Taouk not chicken kebab, actually kebab is made from red meat and not from chicken. The name Shish Taouk is a Turkish name and I believe it spread through the Middle East during the Ottoman period.
Sheesh Tawooq is usually made from chicken thighs and not breast, but you can use any. Also usually it does not have yellow mustard in the marinade, just yogurt and spices but I’ve added it for extra tenderness.
These beautiful skewers is usually served with white rice, toomeya ” garlic paste”, taboulah, hummus dip or your favorite green salad. An added bonus is that almost ALL kids love it and willing to try it.
Here is a short video showing you how to make Shish Taouk. Thank you and I hope you’ve all had a great Thanksgiving.
- 2lbs boneless,skinless chicken thighs.
- 8 garlic cloves, crushed.
- 1/2c yogurt.
- 1/3 c yellow mustard.
- juice of one lime.
- 2 Tbs white vinegar.
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder.
- 1/2 Tbs all spice.
- 1/2 tsp paprika.
- 1/4 tsp cardamom, powder.
- 1/4 tsp black pepper.
- 1/4 c olive oil.
- Salt and black pepper.
- 2 medium onions and bell peppers.
- In a large bowl, add the mustard, oil, minced garlic.,yogurt and all the rest of the spices together.
- Mix very well .
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs. Cut into medium size chunks.
- Add the chicken to the bowl, mix well to cover chicken pieces.
- Leave it in fridge over night- or at least 4 hours.
- Cut the onions and bell peppers into chunks.
- Thread chicken, onion and bell pepper into skewers
- Grill or put it in a 350F oven.
- Or ,for an easier version, you can just dumb everything in an oven dish without the skewers.
- Serve with baked potato wedges,white rice, garlic paste, hummus... endless varities.
Chicken thighs have so much more flavor than the breasts,so I’d definitely use them in this dish. I love the flavor of cardamon, and I’ll bet it’s wonderful in this dish. Really nice — thanks.
One of my favourites! For home I usually dump everything onto sheet pan rather than skewering…because I am lazy! For parties I like to use the skewers. These look delicious!
G’day This looks delish Amira and love the step by step; they are always inspirational to me too!
Cheers! Joanne
Such terrific kebabs! I hope to try them before snow covers our grill…the spices sound like a terrific way to flavor the chicken!
Love shish Tawook. It’s my daughter’s favorite too, so we make it often at home.
I loveeeee shish taouk! I used to make it all the time, and lately I’ve totally forgotten about it! I’m sure my son would enjoy it 🙂
I have a request for you- can you pretty please do a recipe for the garlic sauce? I would loveee to try my hand at homemade with an authentic recipe 🙂
This is my very favourite Middle Eastern chicken dish! I have not yet recreated it as good as I had at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Parramatta, Sydney and this is after many attempts. Thank you Amira, I love your video and simple explanations along with your treasured Shish Taouk recipe. This will be made at home tonight (to cook tomorrow night). I will search your blog for a toomeya recipe, have a lovely day 😀
My family loves skewered chicken more than curries, especially my daughter. And I am glad I have a new recipe to try out for them. Mustard is an interesting addition and I look forward to trying it. thanks for sharing.