National Dishes of the World

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Musakhan
Photo: Kokaly, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Musakhan

مسخن (musakhan)

Roast chicken on taboon bread with a pile of onions cooked in olive oil with sumac and pine nuts.

Eaten in: Palestine

Prep
20 min
Cooking
1 h 30 min
Total
1 h 50 min
Servings
4

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About the dish

Musakhan is a simple yet deeply aromatic dish of chicken, onions, sumac and plenty of olive oil. The onions are cooked slowly in the oil until soft and sweet, seasoned with sumac and allspice, then spread over flat taboon bread with pieces of roast chicken. It all goes back into the oven briefly so the bread soaks up the oil and juices, and it is finished with toasted pine nuts. Musakhan is traditionally eaten by hand, tearing off pieces of bread with onion and chicken, with yoghurt and salad on the side. It is made especially in autumn and winter, when the new olive oil is pressed, and served at family gatherings.

Main ingredients

  • chicken
  • onions
  • olive oil
  • sumac
  • taboon bread
  • pine nuts

Palestine: Often called Palestine's national dish; traditionally made after the olive harvest to celebrate the new oil.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Musakhan

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/musakhan

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Method

  1. Rub the chicken with 2 tbsp olive oil, half the spices (not the sumac), salt and pepper and roast at 200°C for about 45 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

  2. Meanwhile slice the onions thinly and cook them slowly in 100 ml olive oil for about 30 minutes, until soft and lightly golden.

  3. Add the sumac, the remaining spices and the juices from the roasting tin to the onions and season with salt.

  4. Toast the pine nuts in a spoonful of olive oil until golden.

  5. Lay the breads on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and spread thickly with the onions. Top with the chicken and sprinkle with a little more sumac.

  6. Bake at 200°C for 8–10 minutes, until the edges of the bread are crisp.

  7. Scatter with the pine nuts and serve hot with yoghurt.

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