Arabic sandwich

 Variety shawarma /Hassan mathar/Arabic sandwich 

Hassan  mathar sandwich

A famous dish in middle eastern cuisine and one of the world's popular Street food is 'shawarma'  - consisting of sliced meat, chopped Vegetables with mayonnaise and stuffed  in a pita or wrap Bread. Shawarma is widely spread all over the world, hence it has different varieties.

                     In middle east, chicken shawarma is typically served with garlic sauce , fries &  pickles. Moreover there are lots of variety sandwiches, like chicken, meat, falafel sandwich and so on. 

 Once I came across with this unique cheesy sandwich "Hassan mathar" (best of Al ijazah cafeteria in uae) was super special  and so amazing to meet our neighborhood shawarma in an unapologetic display of melted gooey – mayo, sauce,drippy cheese & fries, all smashed into a khubz (pita bread) with fried chicken shreds. 

Why is this cheesy shawarma named after "Hassan mathar" ? 

It's a mystery who Hassan mathar is, and how he earned the illustrious honour of having a sandwich named after him. I've heard rumours it's named after a footballer, maybe after the first person who ordered it and such. Nobody couldn't prove those claims. It doesn't matter who he is, but  it's delicious. 

               In cafeteria this sandwich is stuffed with grilled chicken sliced off the spit, but instead we can fry marinated chicken slices and give charcoal smoke to it. Here I tried out a different marination of chicken with green chilly, yoghurt, mint & coriander leaves,  and I got best result out of that. You can also go for normal chicken marination with red chilly or paprika as you desire. 

So, here's the special recipe —

Ingredients :-

• Khubz/kubboos (pita bread) -  2 (small) 
• Mayonnaise /garlic sauce - 1/4 cup
• French fries - 1 cup (as you desire) 
• Hot chilly sauce - 2-3 tsp
• Cheese slice - as required 

For chicken marination :

• Boneless Chicken cubes - 1/2 cup
• Green chilly - 2-3
• Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tblsp
• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Yoghurt -  2 tblsp
• Mint &  coriander leaf - 1/2 cup
• Salt as needed 

Preparation:-

For Chicken  :

1. Grind green chilly, mint &  coriander leaf, yoghurt into fine paste and mix with chicken pieces.                                              
2. Add ginger - garlic paste, pepper powder & salt. Mix well and marinate it for at least 30 minutes.                                              
3. Heat a pan, cook the marinated chicken for 5 minutes on low -  medium flame, covered with a lid.                                            
4. Then open it and cook until all the water from chicken dries. Give a mix in between.                                                                                       
5. Gradually, drizzle some oil and fry for few minutes until it gets light brown colour.                                                                             
6. Turn off the flame, place a burned charcoal in the middle, drizzle some oil on it and keep it covered for 5 minutes. 

Assembling sandwich :-

1. Take a pita Bread, cut the edge to open and stuff in.                 
2. Spread mayonnaise or garlic sauce.                                                     
3. Then goes the chicken shreds.                                                            
4. Spread some French fries on top of it.                                                                            
5. Next, drizzle hot chilly sauce.                                                         
6. At last, place cheese slice & cover the pita Bread.                                       
7. Finally, toast it on a sandwich maker. (or toast both sides on a pan with very low flame. I prefer sandwich maker for best result) 

Enjoy before it cools down....