The chef gave tips on cooking shawarma and burgers

Cooking any quality shawarma starts with choosing the right meat. If you prefer a dish with chicken, be sure to remove the skin and fat layers - this is a source of cholesterol and fat, Konstantin Pavlov, brand-chef of Level Kitchen service, told Izvestia's gastronomic project "Food without borders".

When cooking shawarma with beef, you should choose lean, non-fatty pieces of meat, when choosing pork, give preference to tenderloin, which will be important not to overdry. At the same time, the meat should make up about a third of the stuffing

"Do not fry meat or chicken in oil. It is better to bake them in foil with your favorite seasonings (for example, with thyme, garlic, mustard, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes and, of course, freshly ground black pepper) in a small amount of olive oil. Alternatively, an electric grill or charcoal grill is also good for cooking meat - in this case, meat or chicken is slowly baked, but not fried in oil," the expert advised.

The dish will be healthier if a significant part of the stuffing in it will consist of seasonal vegetables. Do not add to shawarma "glass" cucumbers or stale tomatoes, it is better to always give preference to fresh products. It is more correct to wrap shawarma in whole-grain pita, fried on a dry grill.

"Refuse mayonnaise and ketchup in favor of natural sauces. Instead of mayonnaise, you can make a sauce based on Greek yogurt with tahini and cardamom, or based on yogurt with sour cream and herbs (cilantro, dill, parsley, green onions - your choice). You can also make your own mayonnaise, based on yolks with olive oil, mustard and lemon juice - it will not be less caloric, but it will taste better, and you can be sure of the composition of mayonnaise," explained Pavlov.

In order to make the burgers, which many people love, more healthy for the body, you need to follow some rules for choosing the meat filling. In classic versions, meat with 15-25% fat content is used for patties. Instead, Chef Pavlov recommends taking lean lean lean beef (about 100-110 g per serving), adding to it a chicken thigh fillet (without skin and fat, about 40-50 g per serving). For greater juiciness, he advises adding squeezed zucchini grated on a fine grater to the mince (up to 20-25 g per serving).

"If you are preparing chicken burgers, for the stuffing, mix breast and thigh fillets (in total, up to 140-150 g per serving). The more in the proportion of chicken fillet, the drier the mince will turn out; to avoid this, add a little cream or milk", - recommends our interlocutor.

Burger patties are healthier not to fry, but to bake. It is better to use a whole-grain bun, and instead of pork bacon - take turkey bacon. Sauces should be chosen with a minimum amount of sugars. To reduce calories, it is better to make the burger open, without the top of the bun.

"To bring variety to the texture of the treat, add more roasted vegetables to it - peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant. As an option, you can make a chicken burger with mushroom sauce and cheese or with blanched arugula; spinach cooked with cream will also work well as an additive," Pavlov recommends.

More tips from chefs and exclusive recipes can be read in Izvestia's zen channel "Food without Borders".