Moroccan Chicken Laffas

Earlier this week a friend challenged me to to cook a dish with a protein ingredients in less than 30 minutes as part of a live broadcast on Facebook.
I wanted to come up with something easy and light that I could easily make in such a short timeframe while not boring (like, throwing a steak on a pan with some veggies).

So, initially I thought — Tacos — they’re quick and easy, with fresh colorful ingredients and they look great in pictures.

But how do I made it interesting to a crowd of hungry Israeli watchers? Mediterranean tacos!
Replace the tacos with pita bread, season the chicken red with paprika and Moroccan spices, and use yogurt and garlic for sauce tasty, fresh and colorful dish.

A note about the spice mix — the 2 important ingredieents in the chicken spice mix is Paprikum and Cumin (ok, and Garlic). You would do just fine with those two…
For an extra kick I add some Harissa and Ras El’Hanut.
Together with the parsley and mint it really turns the chicken into a colorful blend of Red and Green.

If you don't know what Ras El’Hanut is, its an Arabic phrase that translates to “top shelf” — Spice shops would mix together the best of what they had to offer, creating an aromatic signature blend. Every shop’s Ras El’Hanut is different but the prominent aromas here are of Cumin, All Spice, Cloves and Black pepper (with some adding Cinnamon, Ginger, and more…)
Its a great addition of depth to stews and meats.

Ingredients

(for 4 servings)

Chicken:

• 1 pack of boneless chicken thighs (or breasts)
• 2 tbsp Paprika
• 1 tbsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ras El’Hanut
• 1 tsp of Harissa (optional, can also use chili flakes instead)
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp of thinly slices Parsley and Mint.
• Kosher Salt

Yogurt Sauce:

• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 3–4 tbsp Yogurt
• 1 Garlic Clove
• Salt

Plating:

• 2 Pita breads
• 1 Tomato
• Olive oil
• 1 Garlic Clove
• 1/2 tbsp Labane Cheese
• Za’atar
• 1 Radish sliced into thin round slices

Method

Thinly cut Parsley and Mint, put some aside (1–2 tsp) for plating.

Cut the chicken into 2" cubes and marinate with the rest of the ingredients.
I find it best to use a ZipLock — just put all the ingredients in, mix and let it rest.

Before we start grilling lets prepare our sauce — in a small bowl pour in the Olive Oil (1/3 cup) and then gradually add the yogust while whisking. You want the two to emulsify into a consistent sauce.
Mince a Garlic Clove and add to the sauce.

Lets get grilling…

If you’re grilling outside — you can skewer the chicken cubes and place on a grill. If not, heat an iron skillet with a bit of oil and place the chicken cubes in.
Dont move it around! We want the chicken to develop that tasty grilled crust so just let it sit until its crusty and almost burnt and then turn it.

Plating

On a second bowl add some Olive Oil and a thinly cut Garlic Clove. Cut the pita breads halfway through so you end up with 4 round slices of pita. Brush the inside part with the garlic olive oil from the previous step.

Lower the heat and grill the pita slices with the oiled side down. We want the pitas to be crispy but not toast so you could still fold them without breaking, so ~2 minutes should be enough.

Slice a tomato into cubes.

Spread some yogurt sauce on the pita, place a row of chickens slices and some tomatoes.
Spread some parsley, mint and slices of radish.
Add Labane cheese on top and spread some Za’tar on top.

Viola!