Lebanese Lemon Garlic Chicken (Al Aseel restaurant copycat)

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken tenderloin — cut into 4cm/1.5" squares, large vein cut out (or breast)
• 65 g Greek or plain yogurt — for marinade
• 3 tbsp lemon juice — for marinade
• 1 tbsp garlic — finely minced (~4 big cloves) for marinade
• 1 tbsp olive oil — for marinade
• 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt — (1/2 tsp table salt, 1 1/4 tsp flakes) for marinade
• 250 g Greek or plain yogurt — for sauce
• ½ tsp garlic — finely grated or crushed using garlic press (~1 clove) for sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil — for sauce
• 1½ tbsp lemon juice — for sauce
• 1 tbsp tahini (hulled) — or extra 1 tbsp olive oil for sauce
• 1 tbsp water — for sauce
• 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt — (1/2 tsp table salt, 1 1/4 tsp flakes) for sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil — for cooking
• 1 tsp parsley — roughly chopped (or equal amounts mint and parsley)
• lemon wedges — for garnish
• extra virgin olive oil — for garnish

Steps

1. 1

   Mix the marinade ingredients: yogurt, lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, and salt.

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2. 2

   Coat the chicken pieces in the marinade and let it marinate for 12 to 24 hours.

3. 3

   Whisk together the sauce ingredients: yogurt, grated garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, tahini (or extra olive oil), water, and salt. Set aside for at least 1 hour. Warm in the microwave for 40 seconds and whisk just before using.

4. 4

   Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over high heat in a large non-stick pan. Drain off excess marinade from the chicken.

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5. 5

   Cook half of the chicken pieces for 1 ½ to 2 minutes on each side until golden. Transfer to a plate and clean out any loose black bits in the pan before cooking the remaining chicken.

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6. 6

   Spread half of the sauce in a bowl or plate, top with the cooked chicken, and smother with the remaining sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with flatbreads.

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