Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma
 The New York Times
Sam Sifton

Yield: 4-6 servings

2 lemons, juiced
½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. turmeric
Pinch ground cinnamon
Red-pepper flakes, to taste
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Prepare a marinade for the chicken. Combine the lemoon juice, ½ cup olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and red-pepper flakes in a large bowl. Then whisk to combine. Add the chicken and toss well to coat. Cover and store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425. Use the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to grease a rimmed sheet pan. Add the quartered onion to the chicken and marinade and toss once to combine. Remove the chicken and onion from the marinade and place on the pan, spreading everything evenly across it. Put the chicken in the oven, and roast until it is browned, crisp at the edges and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to rest 2 minutes, then slice into bits. (To make the chicken even more crisp, set a large pan over high heat, add a talespoon of olive oil to the pan, then the sliced chicken, and sauté until everything curls tight in the heat.) Scatter the parsley over the top; and serve with tahini, tomatoes, cucumbers, pita, white sauce, hot sauce, olives, fried eggplant, feta, rice - really anything you desire.

Note: Sam Sifton adds that this is Turkish (and many other places) street food and one should turn the meat a couple of times over the course of 30 minutes or so to mimic the self-basting properties of the vertical rotisserie it is ordinarily cooked on. What you are looking for, he says, is "meat that gets a little crisp, brown and curly, like something cooked on a fire high in the Turkish highlands". The white sauce he refers to is a New York City version: yogurt cut with mayonnaise and lemon juice and flecked with garlic. The pita is important - it should be warmed and then used to wrap and/or mop up the meat.
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