Roasted Chicken with Spices and Red Onions (Palestinian Chicken Musakhan)

Chicken Musakhan is as traditional as Palestinian food gets, in fact Musakhan is their national dish. This flavour-packed dish is an authentic recipe from Falastin.

1 chicken (about 1.7 kg), divided into 4 pieces (1.4 kg) or 1 kg chicken supremes (between 4 and 6, depending on size), skin-on
extra-virgin olive oil (120 mL)
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
3 Tbsp. sumac
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground allspice
pinenuts (30 g)
3 large red onions, thinly sliced, 2-3 mm thick (500 g)
4 taboon breads or any flatbread, such as, Arabic flatbread or naan bread (330 g)
fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped (5 g)
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

To Serve:
Greek-style yoghurt (300 g)
1 lemon, quartered
2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6) fan.

Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl with 2 Tbsp. of oil, 1 tsp. of cumin, 1½ tsp. of sumac, the cinnamon, allspice, 1 tsp. of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well to combine, then spread out on a parchment-lined baking tray. Roast until the chicken is cooked through. This will take about 30 minutes if starting with supremes and up to 45 minutes if starting with the whole chicken, quartered. Remove from the oven and set aside. Don't discard any juices which have collected in the tray.

Meanwhile, put 2 Tbsp. of oil into a large sauté pan, about 24 cm, and place on a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the nuts are golden brown. Transfer to a bowl lined with kitchen paper (leaving the oil behind in the pan) and set aside. Add the remaining 60ml of oil to the pan, along with the onions and ¾ tsp. of salt. Return to a medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onions are completely soft and pale golden but not caramelised. Add 2 Tbsp. of sumac, the remaining 2 tsp. of cumin and a grind of black pepper and mix through, until the onions are completely coated. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When ready to assemble the dish, set the oven to a grill setting and slice or tear the bread into quarters or sixths. Place them under the grill for about 2-3 minutes, to crisp up, then arrange them on a large platter. Top the bread with half the onions, followed by all the chicken and any chicken juices left in the tray. Either keep each piece of chicken as it is or else roughly shred it as you plate up, into two or three large chunks. Spoon the remaining onions over the top and sprinkle with the pine nuts, parsley, 1½ tsp. of sumac and a final drizzle of olive oil. Serve at once, with the yoghurt and a wedge of lemon alongside.