~762 cal · 77g protein · 19g carbs · 40g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Sumac chicken over flatbread with onions and pine nuts
🇵🇸 West Bank
Musakhan is the taste of the Palestinian olive harvest, timed to the first pressing of the season’s oil. Sumac stains everything crimson and tart; the whole thing is eaten by hand, torn from a shared platter — the definition of a homeland dish.
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🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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2.5 lbs chicken legs and thighs
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4 large red onions, thinly sliced
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4 tbsp — generously ground sumac
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2/3 cup — this is a harvest dish extra-virgin olive oil
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4 taboon or naan flatbreads
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1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
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1 tsp allspice
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1/2 tsp cardamom
Instructions
1
Rub the chicken (or cauliflower and chickpeas) with olive oil, half the sumac, allspice, cardamom, and salt; roast at 400°F for 35 minutes.
2
Meanwhile cook the onions slowly in a generous pour of olive oil until utterly soft, 20 minutes; stir in the remaining sumac.
3
Warm the flatbreads and lay them on a platter; spoon over some of the sumac onions and their oil so the bread drinks it.
4
Set the roasted chicken on top, pile on the rest of the onions, and roast together 10 more minutes.
5
Shower with toasted pine nuts. Serve on the shared platter, torn and eaten by hand, with yogurt or a simple salad.
West Bank olive-harvest tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
West Bank. Terraced hills where sumac-stained musakhan defines a homeland.
🗺️
Palestine. Olive groves, za’atar, and the taproot of Levantine cooking.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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