• Soak chick peas overnight. Drain and wash.
• Mix the couscous with salt, water, and olive oil, rub it well between the palms of your hands and let the mixture set aside for one hour.
• For this recipe it is recommended to use a steamer pan as the couscous cooks over the steam and not in stock. If you don’t have one fill half a pot with water and top it with a colander but add the juice of half a lemon.
• Bring the water to boil and then add the coucous and let it cook over steam for 45 minutes.
• At this point fry your chicken or meat until cooked from the outside but still raw from the inside. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, prepare your stock by cooking your onions in some vegetable oil, then add tomato paste, chili powder, green pepper, turmeric and the rinsed chicken peas. Add your chicken or meat and allow to cook until well done.
• By now the 45 minutes of your couscous have elapsed. Take it out and place it in a bowl and add half a cup of the prepared stock. Make sure to scoop from the top of the stock pan not the bottom.
• Mix well and return the couscous to the steamer pot to cook for another hour.
• When it ’ready take out the now fully cooked coucous and mix in the flower water and cinnamon and butter and mix well until the butter melts.
• Arrange in serving dish. Dip your side vegetables in the sauce and arrange on top or on the side of your couscous.
• Serve the sauce on the side.

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.