The Recipe: Pamper Your Tastebuds With Authentic Palestinian Musakhan
The Palestinian cuisine is one of the richest cuisines in the Levant, more like in the entire region. With their incomparable seasoning and their delicious authentic recipes, they are a must try for anyone who isn’t Palestinian and wishes to enjoy a tasty and wholesome meal. One of the most popular traditional Palestinian foods, and in some sources considered Palestine’s national dish, is Musakhan. It is a roast chicken dish, perfectly flavored and roasted to tender perfection, served with lemony sumac, sweet caramelized onions on top of flatbread, and sometimes includes pine nuts.
Fun fact: Palestinians entered the Guinness Book of World Records after making the largest ever Musakhan dish.
So here are the ingredients you’ll need to prepare this mouthwatering dish, followed by a simple recipe.
- 3 whole chicken legs
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 4 onions sliced thinly
- 2 tablespoons of ground sumac, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish
- A pinch of saffron and a pinch of cardamom
- Salt and pepper
- 3-6 pieces of taboon or naan
- 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts
In a large, deep pot, brown the chicken in olive oil over medium-high – for a little less than 10 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set it aside on a platter, then add the sliced onions and cook them until they’re reduced by half. After that, return the chicken to the pot along with the sumac and seasoning. Loosely cover it and continue cooking until the chicken starts falling off the bone and the onions are soft and turn brown (usually takes nearly 45 minutes). Make sure to stir occasionally, and reduce the heat whenever necessary to avoid burning the onions. Brush the flatbread with olive oil, and top it with the onion mixture and the chicken. We’re almost done! Garnish it with more sumac, broil for a moment to heat it through, and serve it with plain yogurt or olives.
