I discovered Musakhan — Sumac-Spiced Chicken with Onions on Taboon Bread– several years ago when I was preparing for a family trip to Jordan. I often make lists of sights to visit and foods to try before traveling and the adjectives describing Jordanian food – festive, peasant, rich, rustic, simple, meltingly tender, lemony, zesty, scrumptious, comforting, Levantine, Palestinian, Syrian– aroused my curiosity. I was eager to explore this intriguing cuisine during our trip and to try it back home.
Our trip to Jordan focused on exploring the archeological sites of Petra, the Nabataean necropolis built between 1st century BCE and 1st century CE, three hours south of Amman.
Petra
But our introduction to Jordan was through food.
Amman
On our first night in Amman we dined on classic Jordanian dishes at Sufra, an elegant restaurant known for its exceptional local food. Once seated, we were greeted with a jar of olives and a platter of puffy, charred warm flatbread, a beautiful start to the evening. We sampled a delectable array of traditional dishes that justified those adjectives commonly used to describe Jordanian cooking. We started with a meze of zesty-sweet tomato, chili, onion and pomegranate salad and simple roasted eggplant and tomatoes with yogurt sauce. Then two rustic savory dishes followed: Sufra’s signature dish — mansaf – of meltingly tender yogurt-marinated lamb with almonds on rice and a peasant kofta – a huge patty of spicy minced lamb layered with potatoes in rich tahini sauce. And for a sweet ending, we indulged in ghazel banat — Syrian cotton candy with pistachio ice cream and mahalabiya, a Levantine milk pudding with rose petals. The lusciousness of the meal at Sufra persuaded me to further explore Jordanian cuisine at home.
Over the years, I collected numerous Jordanian recipes but I kept returning to musakhan as the dish I had to taste. Several weeks ago, having tired of repeating meals of pasta, stir-fries, tacos, salads and quiches over eight weeks of coronavirus quarantine, I realized that I needed to delve into another cuisine for new ideas and decided it was time give musakhan a try.
Musakhan is widely enjoyed in Jordan but is called the national dish of Palestine. Historically, Jordan and Palestine have close relations. Seventy percent of Jordanians have Palestinian origins and there are over two million recent Palestinian refugees. Although Jordan’s cooking bears a close resemblance to other Middle Eastern kitchens influenced by the cuisine of Turkey and the former Ottoman Empire which ruled the territory for over 400 years, since the middle of the 20th century, it was also influenced by the cuisines of ethnic groups who made Jordan home – Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Yemenis and Syrians.
The Arabic word musakhan means “heated up,” which indicates that components of the dish are prepared separately, then cooked together and combined for serving. Musakhan consists of five elements – perfectly roasted falling-off-the-bone chicken, tangy sumac with other fragrant spices, silky, sweet onions, smokey taboon bread and fruity extra virgin olive oil.
Chicken. Although some cooks use a quartered whole chicken, bone-in, skin-on leg-thigh quarters are best for musakhan. The dark meat is tender, fattier and forgiving of long cooking. The skin (excess trimmed to the edge of the meat) protects the leg-thigh meat, so it doesn’t dry out in high heat; the bones add flavor. Browning these leg quarters first deepens the flavor of the final dish. Any fat rendered during the browning can be poured off.
Sumac and other spices. Sumac, a spice widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine, made of dried, crushed red berries from the sumac bush (not to be confused with the poisonous sumac plant growing in the United States) is the principal flavoring for musakhan. Edible sumac, usually deep red or dark purple in color, has a pleasing tangy flavor and often substitutes in recipes for lemons or vinegar. Some Palestinian cooks enhance the dish’s flavor with fragrant cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, saffron and allspice which I used; others use homemade or purchased baharat*, an all-purpose spice blend used in Middle Eastern cuisine. Toasted pine nuts or almonds are the usual garnish.
Onions. Sweet onions, slowly cooked with a dash of salt to soften without caramelizing, impart extra sweetness, flavoring both the bread and the chicken. I used a mixture of red and white onions, but any combination of sweet onions would work well as long as they are cooked soft, not crispy.
Bread. Warm, thick and chewy flatbread is an essential component of musakhan. Taboon bread is a thicker variety of yeasted flatbread baked directly on the hot stones of a taboon oven, creating the signature craters in which succulent meat juices, onions and olive oil pool. I intended to bake this flatbread taboon-style in my oven on a rimmed tray of sterilized hot smooth stones following several recipe suggestions. Unfortunately, I could not find the right size stones and instead baked the bread on a hot Weber grill which created the characteristic bumps and charred spots. A thick soft Indian naan is the best purchased alternative to taboon bread.
Olive oil. Although musakhan is now cooked year-round, traditionally, it was made in the fall after olives were picked and pressed into fresh oil. Thus, a good quality extra virgin olive oil is an important flavor component and adds a floral aroma and a peppery bite to the dish.
This perfect musakhan balances succulent, falling-apart chicken smothered in onions on a round loaf of soft crusty-edged bread dressed with fragrant olive oil and flavored with a mixture of tart sumac and other spices. Although musakhan is best made fresh, the onions and bread can be prepared separately several hours or even a day ahead. Later, the onions can be combined with the chicken leg quarters for roasting.
Traditionally, in Jordan’s Palestinian community, musakhan is a festive dish to be eaten with hands. Muskhan is usually prepared as a communal dish for a large gathering. A large taboon loaf (about 2 feet, 61 cm in diameter or larger), layered with onions and multiple chicken pieces and roasting juices, is placed in the center of the table for guests to pull off chunks of bread and top with onions and pieces of chicken. But it can also be served as individual portions of chicken and onions on small loaves of taboon bread (about 6-8 inches, 15.5-20.3 cm in diameter) as I did.
Whether served communally or individually, musakhan is juicy and makes a messy meal. To minimize some of the messiness, the chicken can be cut and eaten with a knife and fork, but the remaining onions are best wrapped up in the flatbread and eaten as burrito-style with plenty of napkins. For more fastidious eaters, some Palestinian cooks create musakhan rolls by wrapping the chicken and onions in the flatbread much like a burrito, but doing so, in my view, diminishes the allure of this rustic meal.
Musakhan is easy to make for a weeknight supper or as part of several other dishes for a party. It is usually served with sides of yogurt and olives.
Musakhan — Sumac-Spiced Chicken with Onions on Taboon Bread
1 teaspoon ground allspice*
½ teaspoon ground cardamom*
½ teaspoon ground cumin*
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon*|
Pinch of saffron*
2 tablespoons sumac, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 chicken leg-thigh quarters (about 2 ½ pounds (1.13 k) total)|
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium red or white onions in ¼ inch slices
¼ cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted
4-8 loaves of taboon bread or naan, purchased or homemade, warmed for serving
1 lemon, slices or wedges
Musakhan flavorings: onions, lemon and spices
Preparing taboon bread: See recipe below. Skip step if purchased.
Preparing chicken: Mix allspice, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, saffron, garlic and 2 tablespoons of sumac in a small bowl.
Wash and dry chicken quarters. Season chicken all over with salt and pepper in a large bowl. Rub with half of spice mix, pressing and working it into the meat.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, brown chicken quarters on both sides in ¼ cup olive oil over medium-high until golden, about 8 minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside on a platter, leaving fat in the pot.
Heat oven to 350°(180°C).
Preparing onions: Return pot to medium-high heat. Add sliced onions and cook until translucent, but not too soft nor browned, scraping any browned bits on bottom of pot and adding a few tablespoons of water if pan gets dry, about 12–18 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining spice mix and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add ¼ cup water, season with salt, and bring to a simmer.
Combining chicken and onions: Nestle chicken among the onions in the pot, skin side up, pour any collected chicken juices onto the cooked onions and transfer to oven. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes. Stir occasionally, reducing heat as necessary to avoid burning the onions and adding a few tablespoons of water to keep onions moist. Test chicken for doneness in the leg-thigh joint after 30 minutes. (Chicken is done at 160°F (71°C) when tested with an instant-read thermometer or if clear juices seep out when leg-thigh joint is pierced with a skewer.) Cook longer, if necessary. Remove pot from oven when chicken is cooked through. Cover and let cool 10 minutes in pot.
While chicken is cooking, toast pine nuts in remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.
Assembling musakhan: To serve, brush taboon bread with olive oil and warm in oven or on a skillet. Arrange bread on a warm platter and top with onions and chicken. Scatter pine nuts over and sprinkle with more sumac. Squeeze juice from one lemon half over chicken. Cut remaining lemon into slices or wedges to serve alongside.
Serve with plain yogurt and olives.
Serves 4-8
Note: Chicken leg quarters come in all sizes. The quarters I purchased were too large for individual servings, so I split the leg and thigh at the joint and divided the leg and thigh pieces over 8 breads instead of 4.
Taboon Bread, adapted from ChefTariq.com
4 cups (568 g) bread flour, extra flour for shaping
1 tablespoon salt
2¼ teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1¾ cup water warm (105°F, 41°C)
Mix flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add olive oil and water, mix with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Empty dough onto a floured counter and knead the dough for a few minutes.
Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and set aside in warm place until dough doubles in size.
Light charcoal in grill or heat oven to 400°F (200°C). If creating a taboon oven at home, place a tray of smooth stones on the lowest rack.
Punch down dough and knead for a few minutes. Cover and set aside until double in size, about 30 minutes. Then, divide the dough into 8 even pieces.
Sprinkle flour on the counter and with fingers press and stretch the dough into flat round loaves.
If grilling bread, preheat oiled grill over coals for 5 minutes. Then place dough loaves on the hot grill and bake until puffy, about 1-2 minutes, lifting edge with a spatula to check for slight charring. Then, flip with a spatula and bake for a few more minutes on the second side. Remove and cool on a rack.
If baking on stones in the oven, once the oven is up to temperature, place the dough loaves one at a time until cooked (5-7 minutes). Check for charring after 2 minutes. The loaves will cook through without flipping. Remove and cool on a rack.
Taboon loaves stay fresh for several days in the refrigerator and, when wrapped tightly, freeze well for up to a month.
*The spices I used may be substituted with homemade or purchased baharat. Recipe for baharat, https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-baharat-spice-2355809.
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