Gyros.. A greek sandwich recipe with both vegetarian and chicken options.
Salads need some dressing or vinaigrette for you to stick to it in long term. And most of them are loaded with sugars, salts etc and usually they are watery ,oily or have fluid consistency. If only the the salad has a thick dollop of some mayonnaise on top I eat enjoy it to core and long the same salad next time. Whereas the vinaigrette leaves a sour taste in mouth . But having mayo with every salad isn’t advisable.And my recent allergy to eggs landed me into search of something healthier yet as ‘creamy’ as ‘mayo’.
What is gyro?
If you’ve heard of shawarma or döner kebab, Gyro is their Greek sibling. Only difference being the topping and sauces. They all have the meat of lamb/chicken or veal which has been roasted on a vertical rotisserie which is constantly rotating near heat. The meat is later shaved to serve make one of these wraps.
What’s the difference?
While rest of them are topped with tomatoes, white onions, lettuce , feta and drizzled with sauces like hummus, tahini or mayo: Gyros are almost always are served with red onion, tomatoes and red cabbage and the sauce is always Tzatziki.
The bread used is pita..in Greek recipes, they customise the shape to long oval so the filling fits in without much effort. But any pita would do. I like this recipe because it healthy to the point that nothing really need to change to make it healthier. At the same time its filling but all that comes from fibre and protein.Thanks to tzatziki which make its enjoyable with its creamy texture.
The classic Greek recipes ask for lamb or veal which is ideally cooked on vertical rotisserie so the meats cooks well. As me and most of us don’t have rotisserie available at home I like to use chicken or paneer (Indian cheese) which cooks in minutes ,that too on stove top.
Good thing I like about gyros?
It hardly takes any time and to add that, half of the things can be prepared beforehand.Like make tzatziki and refrigerate, marinate meat/paneer and leave in fridge as well. When it’s time to make gyros, the meat gets cooked and ready by the time you wash the lettuce and chop onions. All left is to assemble.
You can find the recipe for the greek sauce Tzatziki here. It’s easy and can be refrigerated for further use. Not only the gyros but you can use it in many ways.
Key to remember:
Keep the marination according to recipe given below..it is very basic and simple.If more masalas or herbs added it changes the flavours and remove the simplicity and freshness of this wrap.
- Start by marinating the chicken /paneer with ingredients for marination. Cook on grill pan or simply grill in oven till cooked.
Steps to make:
2. If using paneer, cook itfrom all sides..
3.Make sauce..tzatziki according to the recipe.
Recipe can be found here..
https://reciphoria.com/greek-tzatziki—yogurt-based-healthy-dip/
4. Assembling the wraps: if using a pita, just place it before lettuce.
5.This is how the wraps should look at the end.
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2 hours |
| Servings |
people
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- 10-12 chicken thighs
- 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp red chilli powder or paprika (to taste)
- 2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp each coriander and cumin powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp slat (to taste)
- 1 lemon juice
- 225-250 gms fresh paneer (or firm tofu)
- + rest of the marination ingredients as above.
- 4 wholewheat pitta breads
- 1 lettuce (around 10-12 leaves) ..romain or round variety.
- 1/4 small red cabbage shredded
- 7-8 cherry tomatoes
- 1 red onion..sliced
- 1 lemon cut in wedges
Ingredients
For meat and marination:
For vegetarian option:
For wraps:
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- Use all the marination ingredients to make a paste. Coat the chicken thighs or paneer/ tofu with the marination well. Keep aside for minimum half an hour. Overnight marination is always better.
- Prepare the tzatziki according to the recipe. https://reciphoria.com/greek-tzatziki---yogurt-based-healthy-dip/ You can even prepare it day before and refrigerate.
- Wash the lettuce, red cabbage and tomatoes under running water.Keep it to drain excess water. If the lettuce is not much crunchy, keep it in bowlful of cold water with some ice cubes. This helps to make it crunchier.
- Drizzle few drops of oil on heated grill pan . Lay the marinated chicken or paneer pieces and roast them on medium heat from all sides till cooked. OR Use oven to grill the chicken . Insert the chicken in skewers and lay in the tray. Grill it in preheated at 180 C for 20-25 minutes or till done. (Flip it around half way through.) For paneer it should take around 7-8 minutes.
- Lay flat bread or pita on a plate or board. Spread little tzatziki all over the bread. Lay washed drained lettuce , followed by red cabbage, chopped onions, tomatoes and chicken or paneer. Drizzle more tzatziki on top and serve along with some lemon wedges.
- Every element of this recipe can be prepared beforehand. e.g. pita bread (if making fresh), tzatziki, cooked chicken, salad preparation. etc.
- Chicken / paneer can be cooked on barbecue and this can be a good summer barbecue recipe.
- Tzatziki stays fresh upto 4-5 days when refrigerated.
- For low carb diet friendly recipe:skip the pita bread and roll chicken, tzatziki and salad in lettuce. Use a greaseproof paper to hold everything together.
- For keto diet friendly recipe: swap red cabbage, onions and tomatoes for fresh spinach. Swap sour cream for greek yogurt in tzatziki.
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