Shish Taouk & Vermicelli Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g chicken breast
• 250 g plain yoghurt (100 g for the marinade + 150 g for the sauce)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp sweet paprika + ½ tsp ground cumin
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 240 g long-grain rice
• 60 g wheat vermicelli
• 1 chicken stock cube + 550 ml hot water
• 2 tomatoes (about 120 g each) + 1 cucumber (about 300 g)
• 30 g fresh parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• 8 wooden skewers
• Griddle pan or large frying pan
• Saucepan with lid
• Mixing bowl
• 2 bowls

📖 Steps

1. Soak the wooden skewers in water for 30 min so they don't burn. Cut the chicken into roughly 3 cm cubes, removing any white, sinewy bits. Squeeze the lemon and set the juice aside.
2. Make the marinade in the mixing bowl: 100 g yoghurt, 3 crushed garlic cloves, half the lemon juice, 1 tbsp oil, the tomato purée, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Add the chicken, coat well, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 min.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear, then drain. In the saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil over a medium heat and toast the vermicelli for 2 to 3 min, stirring constantly: they should turn golden brown, not black.
4. Add the rice and stir for 1 min to coat it well in the oil. Pour in the stock cube dissolved in the hot water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 15 min over a very low heat. Turn off the heat and leave to rest for 10 min without lifting the lid, then fluff up with a fork.
5. For the sauce, mix 150 g yoghurt, the last garlic clove (grated), 1 tbsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a bowl. For the salad, finely dice the tomatoes and cucumber, mix with the chopped parsley and keep in the fridge.
6. Thread the chicken onto the skewers without packing the cubes too tightly. Heat the griddle pan over a medium-high heat and cook for 10 to 12 min, turning every 3 min: wait until the chicken releases on its own before turning it, or it will stick.
7. Check it's cooked by cutting into a piece: the meat should be nicely golden outside and white in the middle, with no trace of pink. Leave to rest for 2 min. Dress the salad with the remaining lemon juice, 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper.
8. Serve the skewers on the vermicelli rice, with the tomato and cucumber salad on the side and the garlic yoghurt sauce to pour over the chicken as you eat.