Shawarma Home Fries with Toum and Red Cabbage Slaw
These Shawarma Home Fries feature extra-crisp oven-roasted potatoes dressed in shawarma spiced and decked out with all the toppings. Complete with homemade toum on the side for dipping, these fries carry all the flavor of the classic wrap.
Ingredients
Toum
- 3 heads garlic cloves separated and peeled
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 ½ cups neutral oil I used canola
- ½ cup lemon juice
Red Cabbage Slaw
- 1/2 head red cabbage core removed, thinly sliced with a mandoline
- ½ white onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 ½ lemons juiced
- 2 tsp za'atar
- 1 tsp honey
- ¾ tsp salt
Shawarma Home Fries
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp salt divided
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1.4 kg (3 lbs) Mixed baby gem potatoes** scrubbed and halved
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or chili powder
- ¾ tsp sumac
- ¾ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turbinado sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼-½ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp ground cardamon
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 batch Red Cabbage Slaw see above
- 1 cup Zima tomatoes halved
- 2 cucumbers cut into thin ribbons
- ¼ white onion thinly sliced
- 2-3 dill pickles cut into spears
- ¼-½ cup pickled turnip drained
- ¼ cup curly parsley finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh mint finely chopped
- 1 batch Toum see above
- 4 Lebanese pitas quartered
Instructions
For the Toum
- Cut the garlic cloves in half and remove any green cores if they have them. Transfer the cloves to a food processor and add the salt. Blitz until a smooth paste forms, stopping to scrape down the sides often.
- Add 2 tbsp of the oil and blitz again. Stop and scrape down the sides. Add 2 more tbsp of the oil and blitz again. Again, scrape down the sides.
- Turn the food processor on low and slowly stream in about a fifth of the lemon juice, followed by a fifth of the remaining oil. Continue to alternate between the oil and lemon juice until both are gone. At this point, the mixture should appear smooth, silky and glossy.
- Transfer the finished toum to a bowl, cover with paper towel and place in the fridge. Let chill completely before wrapping tightly. If you wrap the toum straight away the mixture could separate. The chilling will stabilize the emulsion, and the paper towel won't capture moisture. Toum will keep for up to four weeks in the fridge.
For the Red Cabbage Slaw
- Place the cabbage and onion in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk to combine the olive oil, lemon juice, za'atar, honey, and salt. Pour the mixture over the cabbage and onion and toss to coat.
- Cover the bowl tightly and transfer to the fridge. Leave to marinate overnight or for a minimum of 3 hours.
For the Shawarma Fries
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tbsp of the salt and the baking soda. Pour in the potatoes and let cook until just fork-tender, about 7-10 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, place the cumin seeds in a dry skillet and toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and oil and heat until the oil is bubbling. Stir the spices, excluding the salt, into the oil and cook until the garlic is quite fragrant, about 2 minutes. Strain the oil using a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids. Set the oil aside.
- Drain the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Add the flavored oil, the remaining salt, and the lemon juice. Toss the potatoes aggressively. You want to rough up the flesh a bit for maximum crispiness.
- Spread the potatoes out evenly across the two baking sheets. Pop the sheets in the oven and let roast, undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Toss the potatoes with a spatula and return them to the oven. Roast for another 15-20 minutes more or until deeply golden.
- Divide the potatoes amongst four bowls and top each with a spoonful of the slaw and as many of the toppings as you wish. Finish with a sprinkling of parsley and fresh mint. Serve the Shawarma Home Fries immediately with pita and toum on the side for dipping.
Notes
**Ff you can't find mixed gem potatoes, any baby potato will do.