Palestinian Musakhan

Ingredients

• 3 kg chicken
• 4 liters water
• lemon peel
• 1 medium onion
• 1 carrot
• 5 cloves
• 5 cardamom pods
• cinnamon
• bay leaves
• 3 dried limes
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 kg red onions
• 1 liter olive oil
• 4 tbsp sumac
• 1 tsp, to taste salt
• 5 tannour (taboon) flatbreads
• to taste nuts
• for dipping chicken broth

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken into halves on a cutting board.
2. Place 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pot over the heat to boil the chicken.
3. Add the chicken to the pot along with the lemon peel, medium onion, carrot, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, and dried limes.
4. Lightly sear the chicken with the ghee and the boiling ingredients in the pot.
5. Add the hot water to the pot over the chicken and boiling ingredients.
6. Skim the foam from the surface of the pot once it appears on the broth.
7. Cover the pot and leave the chicken over the heat for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through.
8. Finely chop the red onions on a cutting board while the chicken is boiling.
9. Place 1 liter of olive oil in a pot or large frying pan over the heat.
10. Add the chopped red onions to the pot or frying pan of oil over medium heat.
11. Leave the onions in the pot or frying pan of oil over medium heat until softened, without allowing them to color.
12. Add the sumac and salt to the pot or frying pan of onions after the onions have softened.
13. Stir the onions with the sumac and salt in the pot or frying pan until the sumac is well distributed.
14. Turn off the heat under the pot or frying pan of onions once the onion mixture is ready.
15. Transfer the cooked chicken from the boiling pot to an oven tray.
16. Salt the chicken in the oven tray, since it was not salted while boiling.
17. Sprinkle sumac over the chicken in the oven tray.
18. Grill the tray of chicken in the oven until the top is browned.
19. Dip each tannour (taboon) flatbread into the chicken broth in a bowl or broth pot.
20. Transfer each flatbread from the broth to the onion oil, or to the surface of the oil mixture in the pot or frying pan of onions.
21. Lay the dipped flatbread flat in a serving tray or oven tray.
22. Spread the onion mixture over the surface of the flatbread in the tray.
23. Repeat dipping the flatbreads in broth, then oil, then laying them in the tray, distributing the onions between the flatbreads, until all 5 tannour (taboon) flatbreads are used.
24. Place the tray of flatbreads and onions in the oven until the bread is toasted.
25. Arrange the browned chicken pieces over the bread and onions in the serving tray.
26. Scatter the nuts over the tray of musakhan.
27. Sprinkle sumac over the tray of musakhan before serving.