When we executed our World Tour of Chicken a few years ago, we found one or two surprises. I would say that this dish is the most surprising of them all. Mussakhan is a classic Palestinian dish traditionally laid out on a giant piece of bread, where the flavorful roasting juices laced with allspice, sumac, and cumin can be poured over the top. It is meant to be placed on the table so that everyone can pull off sections of bread and chicken, but we serve it on individual plates. It’s basically 2 ingredients. Chicken and red onions, but when you add sumak, lemon juice, cumin and allspice, garlic, pine nuts, parsley and naan, you have the most amazing set of flavors. After making several times, I have found that the secret is to marinate the chicken and onions overnight for the best flavors to emerge, and this time, I also made the naan from scratch.
To make the naan, naturally, I used our sourdough starter. Surprisingly the bread includes both milk and yogurt in the recipe. It’s also cooked on the stove top. Like the chicken, the dough needed to be rested overnight in the fridge. Once the naan is made, you save it for serving. To make the chicken, you roast it in the oven with the onions, the present it on top of the naan with oil fried pine nuts, chopped parsley and olive oil. You serve it with a little more sumac, and a squeeze of lemon juice with more garlic naan on the side.
My Life: A Memoir 