Musakhan (Palestinian Sumac Chicken on Taboon Bread)
84 min · 8 steps
Hard: over 60 min or 12+ steps
About this dish
Bone-in chicken thighs are braised beneath a heap of sumac-stained onions until falling tender, then piled onto warm flatbread and scattered with toasted pine nuts — a Palestinian dish built for sharing.
Allergy Info
Gluten, Tree Nuts
Diet Info
Meat
Before you start
Ready-made is fine, or make your own.
- Taboon Bread4start 48 minutes aheadMake your own
Ingredients
Fresh Produce
- Onionthinly sliced4
Meat & Poultry
- Chicken Thighsbone-in, skin-on800 g
Dried Goods
- Taboon breadlarge4
- Pine nutstoasted40 g
Spices & Seasonings
- Sumac3 tbsp
- Ground Allspice1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon0.5 tsp
- Fine sea salt1.5 tsp
- Black pepper0.5 tsp
Oils & Condiments
- Extra-virgin olive oilplus extra for the bread120 ml
Utensils
- Large frying pan
- Baking tray
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Tongs
- Meat thermometer
Method
Thinly slice the onions.
Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions over low heat, stirring occasionally, until deeply softened and golden.
Stir the sumac, allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper into the onions and cook briefly until fragrant.
Push the onions to one side of the pan, add the remaining olive oil, and brown the chicken thighs skin-side down until golden.
Turn the chicken, spoon the onions back over the top, cover, and cook over low heat until the chicken is cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest piece reads at least 74°C.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over low heat, shaking often, until golden.
Brush the taboon breads with olive oil and warm them on a baking tray in a hot oven until crisp at the edges.
Place each warm taboon bread on a plate, top with a chicken thigh and a generous spoonful of the sumac onions, and scatter with the toasted pine nuts.