Chicken Shawarma Grain Bowl

Ingredients

• 700 g chicken thigh fillets
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 0.5 cucumber, diced
• 60 g rocket
• 300 g cooked farro or freekeh
• tahini, pickled chillies, and flatbread, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, ground coriander, cinnamon, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in a large bowl with a generous pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. The oil here does double duty — it carries the spices into the chicken and blooms them as the meat hits the hot pan, so raw, dusty spice never makes it to the plate.
2. Add the chicken thighs and turn them through the marinade until every piece is slick and stained ochre. Leave for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, or up to overnight in the fridge — the lemon juice and garlic do their work in that time.
3. Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle over high heat until it's properly smoking — you want it hotter than feels comfortable. A cool pan steams the chicken; a screaming pan chars it.
4. Lay the chicken down in a single layer with space between each piece. Work in two batches if you need to — crowd the pan and the juices pool, the temperature drops, and you've boiled the chicken instead of charring it. Cook undisturbed for 5–7 minutes per side, until the edges are blackened in patches and the centres are firm. The minced garlic in the marinade will catch fast at this heat — that's fine on the chicken itself, but if loose bits start going past pale gold and into bitter territory, lift the pan off the heat for a moment.
5. Transfer the chicken to a board and rest for 4 minutes. Skip this and the juices run out the second you cut — rest it and they stay in the meat.
6. While the chicken rests, divide the farro between four bowls and season the grains with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil — plain farro tastes of nothing, seasoned farro tastes of itself. Scatter over the chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and rocket.
7. Slice the chicken thickly across the grain, catching every drop of spiced juice that pools on the board. Taste a piece — adjust with salt or another squeeze of lemon now, not at the table.
8. Pile the chicken over each bowl, spoon the resting juices across the grains, drizzle generously with tahini, tuck the pickled chillies alongside, and serve with warm flatbread for scooping.