Inside Delhi’s Legendary Shawarma Spot

[knife scraping]

[knife tapping]

Wild, we're in Delhi, India, New Friends Colony,

here at Al-Bake Shawarma,

the most famous shawarma place in all of the city.

They're about to put 220 pounds, give or take,

of raw chicken onto a shawarma spindle.

Let's go see how they do it.

So, this is where the prep is happening.

There's a lot of chicken in here, let's go check it out.

This is just the first one.

We're gonna go through about three of these in a day.

So you're sliding across the surface.

You gotta get the bottom locked in to the spindle,

and the top locked in the spindle.

He's obviously done this a few times, look at that, man.

There's guys right now with trailer hitches

that are admiring the precision work

that just happened here.

Alright, well that was a lot easier

than I thought it was gonna be.

I was waiting for an avalanche of chicken

to hit me in the face,

but it's in, it's locked, they're gonna fire up the grill.

[Schawarma Chef] [speaks in foreign language]

I love that the grandpa that started the business

is tweaking the flame right now.

So, this is a gas lit fire.

But what's really cool

about the way a shawarma fire works is,

the burners are vertical.

[knife tapping]

And there's a grate in front of it,

and you're essentially heating the element,

that grate quite often is ceramic or just metal,

or something that can heat up and retain the heat.

So you're cooking more with an infrared type heat,

in addition to obviously, the direct flame.

It's not direct flames leaping out and kissing the meat.

It's just this buildup of a infrared-style heating element.

Oh yeah, it's just getting warm,

and I can already feel the heat radiating off of it.

In about five minutes, this thing's gonna be

just giving me a tan on one side of my face.

I mean, right away you're seeing,

it's not, those drippings now is not just liquid,

a little bit of fat starting to already render

and started to drip down.

As the fat renders out,

the skin that's in there

is gonna basically thin up and get crispy on the outside,

on the part that he slices off,

so you're not gonna get these sort of, fatty bits of skin,

that I know some people don't particularly like

chicken skin that way.

I love crispy, fatty chicken skin.

Are you kidding me?

But with that fat rendering out, no different

than rendering outta the fat, let's say in a duck breast,

you're gonna end up with bits of,

little bits of chicken skin in each slice,

that are gonna be just crunchy and delicious,

and give all that flavor, all that umami.

I was waiting for this thing to start doing it's spinning.

It is not an automatic spindle,

because that would be too easy.

He's just gonna keep spinning the grill

with his patented, spinner tool, implement.

Basically, the knife with which he's gonna be cutting.

This is an incredibly thick spindle of meat.

I mean it is, woo, about a foot and a half across,

maybe even two feet across in width.

So there's no way, no matter how hot this fire is,

that it's gonna cook all the way through.

That's not the point.

The point is just to cook the exterior layer

enough to where it slices off easily,

and then as it hits the flat top,

that's where it gets fully cooked.

You can see the exterior char is starting to happen.

[speaks in foreign language]

And once we get an even char like this

all around the exterior,

that's when it's gonna start slicing.

While we have a second here,

let me see if I can talk to the proprietor of the store,

and find out the secret of what's in the marinade.

I dunno if he'll tell me or not.

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[MZ Beg] It is not possible to.

[Chef Meherwan] Not possible.

To tell you, not by, this is my brand.

I know it's your brand, I understand your brand.

But let me ask you some basic questions.

Is there ginger, garlic in there?

Yeah. Ginger, garlic,

[speaks in foreign language]

Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe not.

Green chilies?

Maybe.

Maybe, maybe not.

I can tell you only,

25 ingredients is inside.

25 ingredients, that's all we know.

Yeah.

We got The Colonel beat, what's The Colonel got?

Seven spices and secret herbs and seasonings, 11?

25 ingredients in there. 25 ingredients.

Yeah, India is not for beginners.

[MZ Beg] No, yeah. As I say, often.

If you come and take a peek,

the cash register and the proprietor

are sitting less than three feet

from where the shawarma's cooking.

At any point he can bend over,

look around and see how the empire is doing,

based on how the spindle of meat here is cooking.

This is like posting up in the kitchen basically,

because that's, that's it.

That's the money.

Okay, so now you can see

the first slicing is starting to happen.

As you can see, the meat is not cooked all the way through.

It's not meant to be cooked all the way through.

The cooking's gonna happen on the platform, over here.

And also, as he's slicing off the big chunks

that are sticking out,

he's evening out the shawarmas,

and that way, the slices will be more uniformly cooked.

The fat's starting to render,

and some of the juices are dripping off.

But as they drip off, they're hitting the surface

where the chicken's cooking,

so you're getting that schmaltz, that chicken fat,

and the chicken juices and the marinade.

None of it's escaping or being wasted.

It's hitting the flat top and caramelizing,

along with the chicken that's sitting

on the sort of, flat griddle over here,

and just helping add that flavor back into the chicken.

So we're not losing anything,

we're not losing any drippings onto charcoal,

or onto the bottom of the grill, smells incredible.

I mean, I wish you'd tell me what's in it.

I would use this marinade back home.

[speaks in foreign language]

[knives scraping]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

20, this guy's been doing it for 20 years?

He looks like he's 20, how?

So, there's no way this is an off-the-shelf contraption.

I mean, this is something that was custom-built

for this purpose.

This looks like a custom rig.

And this box is definitely a custom rig box.

There's a propane tank somewhere, keeping this going hot.

We use the word, jugaad, a lot.

That's basically to, MacGyver something,

to kinda like, duct tape and bubblegum,

and chicken wire something.

And most contraptions like this is jugaad.

There's actually, and I'm not making this up,

a half a brick used here as a leveling device for the spit,

so it doesn't tilt over.

When you come outta this side and see it,

you can tell that the metal down here corroded,

and that brick is the only thing holding this,

oh, I don't know, 1100 degree fire furnace up,

and make sure we don't all kill ourselves.

But this is how India works.

It's held together

by the most humble of things,

and it works.

[knives tapping]

So if you can hear me,

what's happening right now

is the, the best way to describe it is,

the massacre of the meat.

It's the chopping of the meat right now.

Essentially, we're making almost like a keema out of this,

a mince meat out of this,

that is sort of, a very traditional way in India

for meat often to be served,

is in sort of, a mince form.

It's probably doing a couple things.

It's probably making sure that there's an even cook,

and it's making sure that all the different textures,

the thigh meat, the leg meat, the breast meat,

are all incorporated, tenderizing, making sure

the juices get all reincorporated back to it,

and makes it easy for them to portion and serve.

Alright, so all this chopped meat

is actually gonna go from here,

right up over here to the assembly line.

So once he's done,

a portion of it comes out over here to the assembly section,

where this too, is a heated flat top.

And this is where the little schawarma rolls are coming up.

So it's not just a bowl of that meat,

it's actually being transformed into these little rolls.

I mean, the best way to describe them is,

they're about the size of like, little baby tacos,

like little taquitos, are done on this flour.

So they've got a really efficient system,

meat being cooked, brought forward and then assembled.

And this is amazing.

They're adding fresh onions and fresh cilantro.

So this is the final freshening of the meat,

seasoning it up, making it delicious.

All of these onions are gonna get chopped into the meat,

to where it's unrecognizable

that they were even onions there to begin with.

And the onions are also sizzling on the flat top

and cooking in the chicken fat,

and cooking in the chicken oil.

I mean, you know the smash burgers

that are becoming so popular everywhere,

where the onions are being griddled on the flat top?

Essentially, that's what's happening here.

Alright, an order's about to come.

Let's see what he is doing.

So he's been making these like, mini tacos,

like, little taquitos if you will,

and serving them as an order.

There we go,

a little swipe of the mayonnaise,

some of the meat inside, rolled up.

That is the most fluid, efficient motion

that I've ever seen

when it comes to applying mayo to a piece of flatbread,

that is remarkable.

This is what's made them famous.

The bread, it's not a roti,

they make it in-house, in a separate location.

It's their own recipe.

It's essentially kinda like lavash or a pita,

but obviously not a pocket, super thin.

And this is the magic.

Dude, it's a tortilla.

This mayonnaise part is completely unexpected.

Like, I would never have guessed

that that's the secret ingredient here.

It makes complete sense.

I mean, you know, think of

a roast beef sandwich or a chicken sandwich

or a tricky sandwich.

How the mayo just adds that fat.

But instead of butter, instead of chutney,

instead of ghee, instead yogurt, it's mayonnaise.

And it really makes sense,

because they really are trying

to differentiate the flavor profile of this dish

from the typical Indian grilled meats,

that usually have a North Indian style flavor.

This has definitely got a real Middle Eastern vibe to it,

but done in India street food style.

So, I'm so excited to try one of these.

This operation is facing the customers.

The table I'll be sitting at

is literally, three feet away from where this is happening.

So the clacking, the noise,

the smell, the grill, the steam,

the smoke, it's all part of the show.

And it's not just for show,

it's obviously, a very efficient system.

And the customer's standing over here

know that their food is coming directly from this flat top.

So you know it's fresh.

It's not being made in secret in the back somewhere.

It's not coming out of a refrigerator,

it's not being microwaved.

It is schawarma, the way it's supposed to be.

This is what, my favorite part about this kind of cuisine.

You get to see your food being made.

Alright, I'm gonna go place an order at the counter,

and see how this works.

Hello, sir.

Right.

One order, let's see, maybe say, five piece.

Five piece?

Yes please, for here.

Yeah.

How much?

Five.

So, what are you doing over there?

Oh, you giving him the plate

for the order? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you are taking the money and expediting the order?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

500?

500.

500, there we go. Thank you, sir.

Seems like a bargain. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

And now, now where do I go?

Oh, it's ready?

I will give you.

[Chef Meherwan] Oh, you'll give it to me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I love this, one stop shop.

You place the order and the owner gives you food.

And he is not doing this for me.

This is for everybody, this is how it works.

Yeah same, same, same.

Same for everybody.

No special treatment. No, no, no,

no, no. And extra mayonnaise.

Yeah, extra mayonnaise.

If you want something,

chutney, like this.

You give chutney, also?

But what do you, what do you recommend?

Just like this.

No, if you are Indian, you must eat chutney.

Okay, I am Indian, I must eat chutney.

[MZ Beg] Yeah.

What kinda chutney is this?

Chili sauce.

A chili sauce.

Thank you, very much.

[MZ Beg] Many ingredients there.

Of course, there's many ingredients.

How many ingredients?

[MZ Beg] If you eat. Okay, let's do you do it.

[MZ Beg] You will forget.

500 rupees, this is a feast.

[gong chiming]

This guy here is calling my name.

That is so simple.

And all flavor.

[knife tapping]

It's everything you want meat wrapped in bread to be,

nothing between you and the meat, I mean,

this is wild,

how something so simple

tastes so complex and so delicious.

I literally inhaled that,

you can see the flecks of fresh cilantro on the inside,

the little bit of mayonnaise.

And here's what I just also realized,

they only smear half the bread with the mayonnaise,

that way, that's the part that he then puts the meat on.

And that way when he rolls it up,

the meat and the mayonnaise sort of, incorporate together.

But this side doesn't have a lot of mayonnaise,

or any, on it.

And that way when it rolls up,

it's not oozing or squeezing out.

The mayonnaise is mixing in with the meat,

not with the bread,

'cause otherwise the bread becomes soggy.

If there isn't enough mayonnaise,

just dunk it in some more.

It's delicious, trust me,

it's a Middle Eastern dish, but it tastes so Indian.

It truly is that coming together of two cultures into one,

where it really is the best of both worlds.

I mean, you get, you know,

the slight exoticism of spices,

and the way of the preparation that is so unusual

for the street of India.

But it is hugely popular,

as India's relationship with the Middle East has exploded.

And now entire styles of cuisine,

new schawarma places have exploded in popularity

over the last 10 years.

And this is the perfect explanation for why.

It's everything that I crave for from a flavor profile,

but yet, a little bit different.

A little bit interesting and addictive, highly addictive.

It's a big restaurant by Indian indoor, outdoor eateries.

But even though it's fairly large,

there's a certain intimacy to it,

where the owner is sitting

less than a stone's throw away from me.

And yeah, this is sort of the dream as a restaurant owner.

I mean, if I retire,

this is what I wanna be doing,

is sitting there in one spot,

not moving, watching the money coming in

and the food going out.

I mean, and everything within arm's reach.

Even the chaiwala, while we were waiting,

he just kind of waved his hands around.

And next thing you know,

a cup of chai materialized outta nowhere.

This is a dream come true for me.

The grandfather that started this business

spent a lot of time in the Middle East,

and that's where he experienced a

shawarma for the first time.

And he wasn't sure

if he bought this cuisine back to his homeland,

whether it be accepted or not.

So he decided to Indian-ize it.

He added the chilies, the marinade, the masala,

he was trying to meld both these worlds together,

the Arab world and the Indian world.

And India's been doing this for centuries.

We assimilate, we adopt, we make it our own.

We make it unique.

And this place is unique.

Restaurants like this are important,

because they show us that we can coexist,

that we can enjoy each other's cultures,

that we can truly, be a global community.

[knife tapping]