This trip began because earlier in the year I won a contest organized by Thailand Tourism where the prize was a two-night stay at a luxury resort in Phuket. I initially kept it thinking me and my brother could treat the rest of my family to an international vacation but when those plans did not pan out, I decided to make use of the prize myself.
I took advantage of Go Air’s direct flight from Bengaluru to Phuket. A ticket I got for Rs. 9k.
It was my first time flying a budget airline to Thailand from Bangalore. I had exclusively flown Thai Airways up until now.
The flight was 80% full but luckily, my row was completely empty 🙂
The flight was supposed to depart at 2:15am but there was a slight delay
I tried to sleep but it wasn’t too long before I saw the sun rise
It was hard to keep my eyes closed as the view kept getting better…
… and better
Hello Phuket
This would be my third visit to the island. My last visit here was in 2012 with a friend.
The flight landed on time at 7:45am
I had downloaded the visa on arrival form, printed it out and filled it up in advance. The queue at the visa on arrival counter was mostly all Indians who had landed along with me and as usual, many had not filled up the form in advance, nor did they fill up the arrival card given to every passenger on the flight. I did both. Since I was also alone, I got my form inspected and done with everything in less than five minutes. After that, immigration didn’t take long.
I had been longing to visit Paithalmala, the highest peak in Kannur, for quite some time. But one of my cousins told me that there is another hilltop destination that is worth visiting. Palakkayam Thattu is 50 kms from Kannur city center and actually along the same route one would take to get to Paithalmala. Elevated at 3500 feet above sea level, I figured that is high enough to get some great shots using my newly acquired drone.
We were a group of 8 and we hired a van to take us to Palakkayam Thattu and back
We left from our homes at around 7:30am
Palakkayam Thattu is open from 5AM to 9PM so it’s a popular choice to come watch the sunrise and during sunset. But none of us in the group wanted to wake up that early and for me, if the hills got too foggy, then I would not have been to able to capture the height of the hills.
It took us around 40 to 45 minutes to get to the parking area near Palakkayam Thattu. Use this location on Google Maps to find your way to the parking area. The van parked and from there, we had to hire a jeep to take us to the top. Jeeps cost Rs. 700 and can accommodate 7 adults or 8 to 9 children.
As someone who grew up in the Middle East, I have eaten my fair share of shawarmas throughout my life. But shawarmas in India, it’s rare that I would say I have enjoyed the same taste. Most of them are sloppy or too oily… and shawarma does not need to be oily! Add to that sometimes the chicken is not cooked well or tasteless, I finally began to wonder if I could re-create the taste of the shawarmas I grew up on.
I watched a bunch of videos and recipes online, including the one below:
… and once I got the gist of the process, I began to try making it myself using easy to procure ingredients.
This post is going to be for chicken shawarma but you can use the meat of your choice — beef, mutton or pork (even though pork shawarma isn’t available in the Middle East).
For six shawarma rolls, I used around 600 grams of chicken
I mostly used chicken breasts (two whole pieces) and then a bunch of other pieces of chicken, including thigh, so the meat filling would not be just all fibrous chunks. It doesn’t matter if the meat is boned or not, you’re going to pick the meat off the bone after cooking it anyway.
For the marinate/spice mix — I used the following
Red chilli powder
Turmeric
Ginger garlic paste
Coriander powder
Little bit of cumin powder, cinnamon (powder) and mustard sauce
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Olive oil (or any vegetable oil)
The reason I’m not mentioning measurements is because it varies based on the amount of meat you wish to marinate. It’s also up to you how you want your chicken meat to taste. Want a more spicy filling? Add more chilli powder and pepper.
Mix the spices into a paste. (Taste it and make adjustments to your liking). Gently spread the spice mix on the chicken and marinate the meat for at least an hour. Longer you marinate meats, the better it usually tastes. I often leave it overnight now.
Then, grease a baking tray with olive oil or your preferred oil.
Place the marinated chicken meat on the baking tray and then preheat your oven
I baked the chicken in a convection microwave at 190 degree celcius (374° Fahrenheit) for 25 to 30 minutes. I tend to check in between to flip the meats and gently scrape off any spices that would stick to the pan.
If the chicken isn’t 100% well done, don’t fret. The cooking isn’t over.
While the chicken cools off, you can work on the other fillings. Cut up some lettuce (NOT cabbage*) and tomato. You can add them in as is but I like to flavour the vegetables by mixing them in some garlic mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is easy to procure so I use that and it does not taste that different from toum — which is traditionally used in shawarma. Toum is a garlic paste that looks seemingly simple to make but given how much oil and garlic I would need for it to come out right — and the right kind of food processor — I decided instead to use store bought garlic mayonnaise instead.
If you wish try making toum yourself, watch this or the video below:
Back to the chicken. Now, here comes the real time-consuming part. You have to cut up the chicken pieces into small chunks.
Once all diced up, put it all back on the same baking tray and mix the pieces of chicken with the oils left on the pan, which by now are well flavoured
Bake the chicken again for 5 to 10 minutes until the meat is well cooked.
For the wrap, I use this brand of pita bread which is made in Kerala. It’s probably the best brand making such kuboos (Arabian bread) in India.
And now, line up the ingredients…
My brother had brought some Tahini (sesame seed paste) from Dubai so I used that as a spread but it’s not a must. Toum would suffice as well. Even hummus works!
Roll it up and enjoy!
Since trying it for the first time, I have made shawarmas at home four more times and I now rarely buy shawarmas from outside when in Bangalore. The one I make at home feels so much more healthier (less grease, cannot vouch on the nutrition). And now I know it is possible to make the Middle East’s most popular street food at home without the need for the equipment the shops use to grill the meat.
