Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

This meaty vegan doner kebab style seitan is ideal for anytime you fancy a fakeaway. It’s easy to make and a brilliant source of plant-based protein. I’ve never partaken in the treasured British pastime of ending a drunken night out with a takeaway doner kebab. I went meat-free when I was 12 years old, so I was a bit too young for all that. But I have had other meat-free kebab style mock meats. So that inspired me to make my own. The result is this spiced mock meat that you thinly slice and then pan fry until it begins to crisp up. Then all is left to do is bung it in a pitta along with salad and creamy garlic sauce. I’ll also include how I make a simple, low-fat garlic sauce from our old friend, silken tofu

But First; The Seitan

You’ll need;

1. Spice mix; Use one tablespoon of each of the following; ground cumin, ground coriander and smoked paprika. One teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and finally half a teaspoon of ground black pepper
2. 200g vital wheat gluten
3. 30g nutritional yeast
4. 40g chickpea flour
5. Two meat free beef Oxo cubes
6. Two tablespoons of soy sauce
7. 350ml hot water

Method;

• Begin by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Once they are all combined, move onto the wet ingredients
• Into a jug add the stock cubes, soy sauce and hot water. Whisk them together until the stock cubes dissolve and everything is well combined
• Next, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir them together. As the flour begins to absorb the liquid, you should notice the dough begin to form
• Now you can knead the dough for a few minutes, you should be able to feel the gluten develop as you knead
• Wrap the dough in PVC-free cling film or foil, then place in a large saucepan filled with a little boiling water. Replace the lid and then lower the heat to the lowest setting. Gently simmer for one hour
• Once cooked leave the seitan to cool before refrigerating overnight. Once it’s chilled overnight, unwrap and then slice into very thin slices. I found this was easiest to do with cheese slicer

Next; The Garlic Sauce

You’ll need;

1. 350g silken tofu
2. One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
3. One tablespoon of lemon juice
4. One tablespoon of nutritional yeast
5. Half a teaspoon of salt
6. One clove of garlic, peeled and diced

Method;

• Okay, this one is super easy. Just pop everything into either a jug or blender, then blend until it’s completely smooth. That’s it

Assembling the Kebabs

You’ll need;

1. A tablespoon of oil
2. As much kebab style seitan as you want
3. Your choice of salad, I went simply with thinly sliced ice burg lettuce and tomatoes
4. Garlic sauce
5. Pitta bread, most pitta bread in the UK is accidentally vegan

Method;

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once it’s warmed up, add in the kebab strips and fry for three or four minutes on each side. They won’t need very long as they’re quite thin
• Once the seitan is beginning to crisp at the edges, it’s time to assemble. Slice open the pitta, add the vegan doner kebab “meat” and salad
• Finally, add a generous drizzle of the garlic sauce. You can also add chilli/hot sauce too if you like. Then serve

Finally; The seitan will keep well for a week in the fridge, in an air tight container. If you’d like to keep it for longer, store it in an air tight container in the freezer. The garlic sauce will keep for a week in the fridge, I like to store it in a squeeze bottle as I find this the most convenient