At two-hatted Sydney CBD restaurant AALIA, executive chef Adam Wolfers explores Middle Eastern tradition through a contemporary Australian lens in his latest menu. His Chicken Bits Shawarma draws on the region’s rich culinary heritage, balancing fragrant warm and earthy spices with the restaurant’s signature fire-led approach.
And if you’re looking for the perfect dessert to pair with your dish, try Wolfers’ recipe for labne ice cream bastani sandwiches.
Yoghurt Bread
Ingredients
125g flour
100 yoghurt
10ml olive oil
2g salt
Method
Mix everything together in a bowl and kneed into a soft dough. Allow to rest for 1 hour. Portion into 25g ball. Then roll out and cook in medium pan with a touch of oil, until lightly coloured on each side.
Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
500g chicken thigh
50g chicken livers
5g black pepper
5g cumin
2g cinnamon
5g turmeric
2g nutgmg
5g ground coriander
50ml oil
Method
Marinade the chicken and liver in spices. Keep them separate. Allow to marinade for 1 hour. Roast the thigh fillets in 200 degree oven for 30 mins or until cooked through. Sear the livers in a hot pan on each side for 1 minute.
Fry off 500g of onions in lots of oil until golden and slightly crispy. Take the cook chicken and sliced into thin pieces, mix with onions and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice.
Tarator
Ingredients
200ml tahini
150ml water
1 clove garlic
30ml lemon juice
3g salt
Method
Mix everything into a smooth sauce
Pickled Red cabbage
Ingredients
1 red cabbage finely sliced
Method
Mix with good pinch of salt and sugar. Allow to macerate until water extacts.
Add 500ml apple cider vingar and massage through the cabbage. Overnight ideal.
To plate up
Yoghurt bread with a good squiggle of tarator.
Add chicken and cabbage.
Roll up yourself and enjoy. Use your hands, no cutlery needed!
