Recipe: chicken musakhan from the Ottolenghi team
Yotam Ottlogenhi is one of the most successful bestselling authors of the last decade. Two of his loyal cooking buddies from team Ottolenghi have written their own cookbook: Falastin. An absolute must for every Yotam fan, because this book too is packed with mouthwatering and colourful recipes from the Middle Eastern kitchen. Such as this immensely popular national dish of Palestine: chicken musakhan.
Falastin is a tribute to Palestine. Arabic has no letter ‘p’. Hence the spelling with an F in the title. It is an ode to the rich food culture that gave us, among other things, falafel, hummus and tabbouleh. Sami Tamimi, one of the authors of Falastin, ate this delicious chicken dish once a week when he was young, tearing off a piece of chicken and placing it between a piece of pita or flatbread. It is a dish you eat with your friends using your hands. It is served from a pan or on a plate so that everyone can tear off a piece of bread and scoop up the chicken and filling themselves.
Musakhan is perfect any time
Musakhan was traditionally made in October or November, when the olives were pressed to celebrate the freshly pressed oil (and assess its quality). Taboon bread was baked in a hot taboon oven lined with smooth, rounded stones, creating small craters in the bread where meat juices, onion and olive oil collected. These days, it is made all year round, layered with shop-bought taboon or pita bread, and the dish is suitable for any occasion: easy and comforting enough as the perfect weeknight dinner, but also special enough to hold its own against the other dishes at a celebration.
Prefer vegetarian?
You can replace the chicken with thick slices of roasted aubergine or sturdy cauliflower florets (or a combination of both) as a vegetarian alternative. Roast the slices or, if you choose the cauliflower florets, roast them in an oven preheated to 200 °C: allow approximately 25 minutes for the cauliflower and approximately 35 minutes for the aubergine.
How to make chicken musakhan
Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Place the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of sumac, the cinnamon, allspice, 1 teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Mix everything well and spread the pieces out on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast the chicken in the oven until cooked through. This takes 30 minutes for the supremes and 45 minutes for the chicken cut into quarters. Remove the chicken pieces from the oven and set them aside. Keep the meat juices left on the baking tray. Meanwhile, pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large sauté pan approximately 24 cm in diameter and place it over medium heat. Roast the pine nuts, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until golden brown. Spoon them into a bowl lined with kitchen paper (leave the oil in the pan) and set them aside. Add the remaining 60 ml of oil to the pan with the onions and 1 teaspoon of salt. Return the pan to the heat for 15 minutes and stir from
time to time until the onions are completely soft and lightly golden brown, but not caramelised. Add 2 tablespoons of sumac along with the remaining 2 teaspoons of cumin and a grind of black pepper, and mix everything until the onions are completely coated.
Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside. When you are ready to finish the dish, set the oven to the grill setting and cut or tear the bread into four or six pieces. Place them under the grill for 2–3 minutes until crisp and arrange them on a large platter. Cover the bread with half of the onions, followed by the chicken and any chicken gravy from the baking tray. Leave each piece of chicken whole or tear it into two or three generous
pieces as you distribute it over the bread. Spoon the remaining onions on top, sprinkle with the pine nuts, parsley and 1 teaspoon of sumac, and drizzle with olive oil. Serve
immediately, with the yoghurt and a lemon quarter alongside.
Title: Falastin
Authors: Sami Tamimi & Tara Wigley
With a foreword by Yotam Ottlolenghi
Publisher: Fontaine Uitgevers
Price: € 29,95
