Stranger Foods

Spiced chicken arayes

Serves 2 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 30 mins

Arayes is the plural of the word for ‘bride’, in Arabic, which is ‘aroos’. There are various tales as to why this particular name is given to this snack: one is that the white bread represents the white dress of the bride wrapped around a dark tuxedo (typically a lamb filling) of the groom in a deep embrace (!). Thinking slightly more practically, for those with an appetite arayes are essentially pan-fried pita bread sandwiches. They’re great either for snacking on before a meal or as a meal in themselves, served with a fresh chopped salad and some sumac yoghurt.

Source: Falastin

Ingredients

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60 ml olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ tsps caraway seeds, roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar
1½ tsps cumin seeds, roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar
¾ tsps ground cinnamon
½ tsps chilli flakes
2 tsps tomato purée
2-3 plum tomatoes, coarsely grated and skins discarded
350 g chicken thighs, either ask your butcher to mince these for you, or put skinless and boneless thighs in a food processor and blitz a few times minced
25 g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
4 shop-bought pitas (about 16x 10 cm)
20 g unsalted butter
Salt and black pepper

To serve

1 lemon, cut into wedges
Tahini sauce (optional)

Instructions

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Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large sauté pan and place on a medium-high heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook for about , stirring often, until soft and golden. Add the garlic, spices and tomato purée and cook for another minute, until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for about , stirring often, until they have completely broken down and the mixture is quite thick. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, transfer the mix to a medium bowl along with the chicken, coriander, 1 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well to combine and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
Using a serrated knife, slice the pitas open to create two separate rounds. Place them on a clean work surface, cut side up. Spread one of the rounds with about 140-150 g of the chicken mix – it should be about ¾ cm thick – then place an unfilled pita on top, pressing down gently to make a sandwich. Continue with the remaining chicken mixture and pita slices to make 4 sandwiches in total.
Put 10 g of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Add 2 of the sandwiches to the pan and cook for , turning after a minute or so until both sides have taken on some colour. Transfer to a large parchment-lined baking tray and blot gently with some kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. Continue with the remaining sandwiches, adding another 10 g of butter and tablespoon of oil to the pan with each batch. Once they are all pan-fried, transfer the tray to the oven and bake for , or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for about before slicing each pita into 4. Serve warm, with a wedge of lemon and some tahini sauce alongside to dip into, if using.

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