Vegan Seitan Shawarma

Prep time:  20 minsCook time:  30 minsTotal time:  50 mins

Serves: 4-8 servings

Strips of juicy seitan wrapped up in Arabic bread with fresh veggies, onions, tahina sauce and pickles make for a killer combination any time of day.

Ingredients

For the seitan shawarma "meat"

Adapted from That Was Vegan's chicken seitan recipe here

1½ cups vegetable broth (at room temperature) - I use 1 Kallo stock cube + water

1½ tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce, tamari or braggs liquid aminos

1½ cups vital wheat gluten flour

¼ cup chickpea flour

⅓ cup nutritional yeast

3 cloves of minced garlic

2 tbsp shawarma seasoning (or make your own by following this recipe)

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp cumin powder

Sea salt and black pepper to taste (I recommend using at least ½ a tbsp but I prefer my shawarma on the saltier side)

Aluminum foil and steamer basket

1 tbsp cooking oil of choice

To assemble the sandwiches

Arabic bread (Lebanese bread or Saj, depending on what you can find)

Hummus or yoghurt tahini dressing like the one from this recipe

Garlic mayo or homemade vegan toum sauce

Fresh tomatoes and onions thinly sliced

Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Pickles of choice thinly sliced

Instructions

For the seitan shawarma "meat"

Add the stock, olive oil, soy sauce and garlic in a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and whisk to combine.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir well to combine using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. When you're done the mixture should form a dough that comes away from the bowl.

Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes to develop the gluten - you'll notice the texture of the dough start to transform as you do this.

Cover the mixing bowl with a dish towel and allow to rest for about 10 minutes, before kneading out one more time on a cutting board. At this point, you'll cut the dough into four equal parts (this isn't an exact science, but you can use scales to ensure each portion is about the same). Try to shape each individual "loaf" into a rectangle.

Wrap each piece in 6 inch long piece of foil - you don't want this to be air-tight as the seitan will expand when it cooks.

Place in a steamer basket and steam on medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Once done, allow the seitan loaves to cool before unwrapping and slicing your strips of shawarma meat using a serrated knife. Bear in mind each loaf is about two servings, so only slice off as much as you'll need for your sandwiches.

In a pan, fry up your strips in the cooking oil for about 3-5 minutes until they have some colour on them - you don't want them to be too tough or crisp so don't overdo this step. Set aside for assembly.

To assemble the sandwiches

Layer your bread with sauce or hummus, pile on the seitan strips and add a few slices of each topping, before sealing off with a touch more sauce an wrap by folding the bottom in and then the sides. You can also wrap these into foil or sandwich paper for easier (and fuss-free) eating later.