Musakhan — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Roasted chicken draped over taboon bread and smothered with caramelized onions stained purple with sumac and drenched in olive oil. This ancient dish delivers waves of tangy, earthy flavor in every oil-soaked bite.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
6 large onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sumac
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
4 taboon or large flatbreads
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Salt and pepper
1 tsp ground cumin

Instructions

1 Season chicken pieces generously with sumac, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, salt, and pepper. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2 Heat half the olive oil in a large skillet. Cook sliced onions over medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply caramelized and jammy.
3 Stir remaining sumac and cardamom into the onions in the last few minutes of cooking. The onions should turn a deep purple-red color from the sumac.
4 Place flatbreads on baking sheets. Spread a thick layer of the sumac-onion mixture over each bread, covering the entire surface.
5 Arrange marinated chicken pieces on top of the onion-covered bread. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and scatter pine nuts around.
6 Roast at 200C for 35-40 minutes until chicken is cooked through with crispy golden skin and the bread edges are crisped. Serve the whole platter family-style.

Did You Know?

Musakhan was traditionally made during the olive harvest season as a celebration of the new olive oil pressing, using the freshest oil of the year.