Roast chicken baked in the oven with spices, onions and nuts, served on tabun bread, served with plain yogurt and olives; and eaten by hand!
Like mansaf people gather around for this dish, but I find it hearty enough to cook for my family of four.
A general rule of thumb that I learned from my mom is, for every chicken used in the recipe you will need 1 KG of diced onions.
Musakhan
Every home has a special touch when it comes to Musakhan. I make it by using the traditional way but I also add some untraditional touches.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker Optional
Ingredients
- 4 pcs Taboon Bread
- 1 KG Onions, diced 6 – 8 Onions
- Enough olive oil to cover onions
- 6 – 8 TBSP of Sumac you need to taste and adjust
For Chicken Stock Made in Smart Pot
- 1 chicken cut into four pieces
- 1 Onion Cut into Quarts
- 1 Carrot
- 6 pieces cloves
- 6 pieces black pepper
- 1 stem dill
- 1 stems parley
For Garnish
- Slivered Almonds or Pine Nuts Fried
Instructions
For the Onions
- Dicing the onions is the most consuming part of making musakhan, but totally worth it.
- In a sauce pan, add onions submerge them with olive oil, and cook for 30 - 40 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- When your onions are ready, strain from the olive oil, and save the oil for later use.
- Season the onions with sumac, I start with 2 TBSPs at a time, Mix well until well incorporated and taste and adjust accordingly.
For the Chicken
- I like my chicken well cooked and soft, so I make it my smart pot. It's also an opportunity to make chicken stock.
- In a smart pot, choose your soup function.
- Add 6 cup of water and allow to boil.
- Remove all foam and impurities.
- Add the aromatics for this recipe I used, onions, carrots, cloves, black pepper, dill, and parsley.
- To the aromatics, you can add thyme, leeks celery. Some people like to add garlic, but I shy away from garlic because sometimes I need to save chicken stock for foods that don't require it.
- Press the pressure cook function for 30 minutes and seal.
- Remove the chicken and vegetables with a slotted spoon or spider ladle, and strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve.
- Season the chicken with salt/pepper and keep aside for assembly.
- I like to add chicken stock to my musakhan (optional and see below) If you're skipping, allow to cool and freeze for later use.
For Assembly
- Layer an oven tray with parchment paper for easy clean up.
- Dredge the taboon bread in the chicken stock for a few seconds and place on baking tray. This step is not traditional but I learned it from my mom, and it just adds flavor and keeps the muskahan light.
- Cover the bread with the onion mixture.
- Using a ladle add a touch of olive oil to each piece of bread. You can also brush it. I use half a ladle filling for 2 loafs so its just a bit.
- Dip seasoned chicken into olive oil and add one piece per bread.
- Place in oven until chicken is browned. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes since the chicken is already cooked in the pressure cooker.
- Garnish with fried almonds or pine nuts and serve.
Video
Notes
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