How to make chicken musakhan rolls
Musakhan, which translates into English as "heated up", is one of the most famous and traditional of Palestinian dishes, a perennial favourite on menus that comes to the fore during celebrations such as the olive harvest season.
It's also a strong contender for Palestine's national dish against maqlouba, the chicken, vegetable and rice meal which is famed for being turned upside down.
Musakhan is traditionally made with sumac-seasoned chicken, sat on top of a type of flatbread known as tabun: however, a modern variation has seen that evolve so it is now also available in rolls. It's great served with freekeh soup and yoghurt.
Recipe
Serves: About 20 mini rolls
Preparation and cooking time: 1.5 hours
1. Ingredients
- Half a chicken skinned, cleaned and marinated
- 12 onions diced (you can use a food processor)
- 240ml (1 cup) olive oil
- 2½ tbsp sumac
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- salt and pepper
- 5 tabun bread (or any flatbread)
- roasted pine nuts
2. Method
Preparing the chicken
- In a bowl, add the chicken and toss with salt, pepper and cinnamon powder to marinade it.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pot. Add the chicken, 1 chopped onion, the cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick.
- Add enough water to cover the chicken.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the heat and leave it to cool. Make sure you keep the broth for later.
- Take the chicken out of the pot and shred into pieces.
- In a separate pot, saute the rest of the onions on a low heat with olive oil.
- Once the onions have wilted down, add ¼ cup of the chicken broth.
- Next add sumac, ground cumin and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste and then take off the heat.
- Add the shredded chicken to the mixture and mix them together.
Assembling the musakhan
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper (optional).
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
- Take one slice of bread and divide it into 4 sections (adjust according to the size of your bread)
- Rub one side of each slice with olive oil and then flip it over.
- Place on top 1 full tbsp of the filling, some pine nuts and then wrap tightly. Be sure to tuck in the edges so the filling doesn’t fall out.
Baking
- Place the musakhan rolls on the prepared baking tray and place in the oven.
- Broil until golden brown on both sides and the edges are crispy
- Serve hot with freekeh soup and yoghurt.
You can follow Lina on her Instagram page @ana__lina
This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.
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