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Chicken musakhan
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (around 1.7kg), divided into 4 pieces (1.4kg) or 1kg chicken breast supremes (4-6 supremes, depending on size), skin on, if you prefer
- 120ml olive oil, plus 2-3tbsp extra, to finish
- 1tbsp ground cumin
- 3tbsp sumac
- 1⁄2tsp ground cinnamon
- 1⁄2tsp ground allspice
- 13⁄4tsp salt
- 30g pine nuts
- 3 large red onions (approx. (500g), thinly sliced
- 4 taboon breads or any flatbread (such as Arabic flatbread or naan bread)
- 5g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
To serve
- 300g Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 lemon, quartered
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 8. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl with 2tbsp of oil, 1tsp of cumin, 11⁄2tsp of sumac, the cinnamon, allspice, 1tsp of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well to combine, then spread out on a parchment- lined baking tray. Roast until the chicken is cooked through. This will take around 30 minutes if starting with supremes and up to 45 minutes if starting with the whole chicken, quartered. Remove from the oven and set aside. Don’t discard any juices which have collected in the tray.
Meanwhile, put 2tbsp of oil into a large sauté pan (around 24cm) and place on a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook for around 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the nuts are golden brown.
Transfer to a bowl lined with kitchen paper (leaving the oil behind in the pan) and set aside.
Add the remaining 60ml of oil to the pan, along with the onions and 3⁄4tsp of salt. Return to a medium heat for around 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onions are completely soft and pale golden but not caramelised.
Add 2tbsp of sumac, the remaining 2tsp of cumin and a grind of black pepper and mix through, until the onions are completely coated. Remove from the heat and set aside.
When ready to assemble the dish, set the oven to a grill setting and slice or tear the bread into quarters or sixths. Place them under the grill for 2-3 minutes, to crisp up, then arrange them on a large platter. Top the bread with half the onions, followed by all the chicken and any chicken juices left in the tray. Either keep each piece of chicken as it is or else roughly shred it as you plate up, into 2-3 large chunks. Spoon the remaining onions over the top and sprinkle with the pine nuts, parsley, 11⁄2tsp of sumac and a final drizzle of olive oil. Serve at once, with the yoghurt and a wedge of lemon alongside.
This recipe was taken from the May 2020 issue of Food and Travel.
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