recipe

Musakhan

A very famous Palestinian recipe, particularly in the villages, this meal is a symbol of self-sufficiency in rural Palestine. Its ingredients are available in any village house at minimum costs, making a delicious and healthy meal.

Ingredients (for two):

6 large onions
2 "taboun bread"*
250 ml of Frying oil
1 chicken
salt, pepper, summak, allspice

Clean the chicken and cut it into 4 - 6 pieces. Cut one onion in small pieces. Fry it in one table spoon oil until golden. Add the chicken and turn it over in the pot adding salt, pepper, and allspice to taste**. Cover with water and cook until tender. Cut four onions into small-medium size pieces. Deep-fry the onions until golden. After the chicken is done, remove the pieces from the water and place in a grilling pan, adding one onion cut into small pieces with salt, pepper, and "summak". Grill in the oven.

To prepare the bread, spread the fried onions (and their oil) evenly onto the taboun bread. Place the chicken over the bread. Sprinkle with summak. Fried pine seeds are optional garnish. Serve hot with sour yoghurt and salad.

Taboun bread is the traditional Palestinian bread baked over hot stones. It can be bought at some bakeries and major supermarkets. An adequate replacement is the "Shrak" bread, which is another traditional bread that is extremely thin and baked over a round hot plate.

To give an interesting taste to the chicken, add cardamom and bay leaves to the water.