Palestinian Musakhan (sumac chicken on flatbread)
Recipe No.: A-21
Arab110 minServes 5
Musakhan (also called muhammar) is a Palestinian dish of roasted chicken with onions, sumac and pine nuts served over taboon bread, regarded by many as Palestine's national dish and also loved in Jordan and the Levant. Its name is said to come from reheating old bread to make it taste better, it is traditionally tied to the olive harvest season, and the Tulkarm and Jenin area is mentioned as its place of origin. Its exact origin is unclear, and it is mentioned in Palestinian folk songs from the 19th century.
Ingredients for Palestinian Musakhan
- For the chicken
- 1chicken cut into 8 pieces (about 1.4 kg)
- 3 tbspolive oil and the juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbspsumac, 1 tsp allspice and ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1½ tspsalt and ½ tsp black pepper
- For the onions
- 1 kgonions (about 6 medium), thinly sliced
- ½ cup(125 ml) olive oil
- 3 tbspsumac and 1 tsp salt
- To serve
- 5rounds of taboon, saj or large pita bread
- ¼ cuppine nuts toasted in a little oil, a little extra sumac and plain yogurt
Method
- Mix the oil, lemon, sumac, spices, salt and pepper, rub it over the chicken and leave in the fridge 1 to 2 hours (or overnight).
- Heat the oven to 200°C. Arrange the chicken in a tray and bake 40 to 45 minutes until cooked and browned, basting once or twice with its juices.
- Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a wide pan, add the onions and salt and cook over medium-low heat for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring, until soft, golden and tender.
- Stir in the sumac for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat.
- Spread about two-thirds of the onions on the bread rounds, place them on trays and put in the oven 5 to 8 minutes until the bread soaks up the onion oil and its edges brown.
- Place the chicken pieces on the bread with the tray juices and the remaining onions, and scatter the pine nuts and a little more sumac. Serve hot with plain yogurt.
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