Chicken Shashlik

Make this easy and delicious Chicken shashlik for a fast weeknight dinner. Cut-up pieces of marinated chicken are skewered and grilled to perfection. Chicken shashlik is a barbeque food, usually eaten as an appetizer but makes for a great meal served over flatbreads like roti, Naan, paratha, pitta or lavash with pickled onions & veggies.

They can also be eaten alongside rice pilafs, noodles or spaghetti. At home we love these with garlic yogurt dip, which I also shared in this post.

About Shashlik

The word “Shashlik” originated from the Turkish word “Sish” meaning skewer and is somewhat similar to shish kebab (but not the same). Traditionally shashlik is a dish of marinated meat & veggies that’s skewered and grilled on hot charcoal.

This Indo-Chinese fusion version will help you make a super delicious, flavorful and tender Chicken Shashlik at home, even without a charcoal grill or barbeque setup. You may use your grill pan on the stovetop, broil in oven or cook in an air fryer. I’ve included instructions for all the 3 methods.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Chicken: Though skinless boneless chicken thighs are best for recipes like this, I prefer to use chicken breasts. You may use whatever you like. If you want you can also use drumsticks but make sure you use strong metal skewers for this or lay them flat on a wired rack and grill, but they won’t be called shashlik if you don’t skewer the meat.
• Lemon or lime juice: Shashlik is always made with a high acidic marinade like lemon or lime juice. It not only tenderizes the meat quickly it also adds a citrusy tang to the chicken.
• Tomato Paste: I prefer to use tomato paste rather than tomato ketchup for flavor, tang and color. If you don’t have it, you may use tomato ketchup or can make it following my expert tips section below. You may substitute it with thick yogurt but that takes you close to the Mediterranean chicken skewers or Chicken Tikka.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic imparts fresh pungent garlicky flavors. You may substitute with ginger garlic paste or garlic powder.
• Spices like paprika/ red chili powder, black pepper, ground cumin and garam masala help build flavors.
• Soya Sauce is an optional ingredient but a small amount adds an umami flavor to the marinade and enhances the end results. It can be substituted with tamari.
• Olive oil: I use organic extra virgin olive oil. You may substitute with melted unsalted butter or any other oil of choice.
• Veggies: Red onions and bell peppers are most commonly used in a shashlik for flavor. These veggies will add some plant based nutrition to your meal.

Photo Guide

How to make Chicken Shashlik (with photos)

Marinade

1. To a mixing bowl, add

• 3 tablespoon tomato paste (50 grams, or ketchup or thick yogurt)
• 1 to 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika (or use mild chili powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
• 1½ tablespoon grated garlic (25 grams or paste/ pressed or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 ml)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30 ml or melted unsalted butter)
• 1 teaspoon soya sauce (optional or use tamari)

2. Mix well and taste test to adjust the seasonings like salt and spices.

3. Stir in 650 grams / 1½ pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breast (cut to 1½ inch).

4. Marinate, cover and rest for 12 hours in the refrigerator, or for a minimum of 4 hours.

Make Chicken Shashlik

5. You may soak wooden skewers in water for 30 mins to prevent burning. Dice 250 grams each of onions and bell peppers to the same size as chicken. If you want you may use firm pulpy tomatoes, thin slices of carrot slices or thick slices of zucchini.

6. Line a baking tray with foil, for easier clean-up & place a greased wire rack over it. I’m using a cast iron grill pan here. So I greased it with oil. Preheat oven to 460 F/ 240 C for at least 15 mins. Mix in the prepared veggies into the chicken marinade.

7. Thread the onions, bell peppers and chicken alternately on to skewers, leaving space around the chicken to cook evenly. Place on the wired rack and bake for 16 mins, turning them at 10 mins mark. Move the chicken to the top rack and broil for 3 to 4 mins to get some charred spots.

Make Garlic Yogurt Dip

8. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together the following ingredients to make the dip/ sauce.

• 1 cup thick yogurt/ Greek yogurt (whisked well with a fork)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley or coriander leaves
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked/ crushed
• ¼ to ½ chili flakes (optional)
• salt to taste

9. When the chicken is cooked through your meat thermometer reads 165F / 74C . Brush chicken shashlik with fresh lemon juice and then with olive oil. This keeps your skewers moist without drying out.

Serve hot with garlic yogurt dip as a appetizer or with yellow Turmeric Rice & Cucumber Raita. Or wrap them up in naan/ roti, lettuce, veggies and garlic yogurt sauce.

Expert Tips

• To make you own tomato paste, either start with 1/3 cup passata (bottled tomato puree) or 1½ cup pureed ripe tomatoes (fresh or canned). Add to a small pot and simmer, partially covered until thick and paste like. Turn off and measure 3 tbsps for this recipe. It is essential to use really high quality pulpy tomatoes for this else it takes too long to thicken.
• In restaurants, tomato ketchup is used but I prefer tomato paste to cutdown the starch, sugar content & additives. But ketchup lends a different sweet and more tart flavor.
• These skewers are meant to be mild and not too hot & spicy. To make them hot and spicy, use a hot sauce or hot chili powder to your preference. For a barbeque like flavor, sub one tbsp tomato paste with 1½ tbsps barbeque sauce.

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