Hot favourites

Shawarma (left) is made from the meat of mutton and chicken (outside India, beef or pork meat is also used). The meat is marinated for at least eight to 10 hours with spices. The meat is then placed on the rotisserie (the rod/support on which the beef is placed).

There is one rotisserie that is vertical and there is one that is horizontal and the fire is on one side. The rotisserie keeps rotating so that the entire surface gets equal amount of heat.

While serving the shawarma , one cuts the meat on the outer side because meat inside is not cooked; due to the heat source on one side only meat on the outer side is cooked.

The shawarma is normally served with tahini or harrisa (a red chilli dip) sauce.

In India, Shawarma is gaining popularity as a roadside fast food snack, and it is normally served with all/either of following - pita bread, french fries, salad dressing and some type of strong sauce, all of which differs from one vendor to another.

Falafel

One of the most famous dishes from Lebanon, it can be cooked in two ways.

One way is to present it like a nugget (lower image).

The falafel roll is a filling of sauces (hummus or tahini), tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, purple cabbage and the falafel nugget in a pita bread roll. The rolls are very filling; I, for one, could not consume more than half of the falafel roll.

The falafel is very spicy, very filling and it is normally a main course dish.

A large falafel roll can also be sliced into smaller pieces. A toothpick is stuck into each piece and then served as starters.