Musakhan (Sumac Chicken, Onions, and Pine Nuts Rolls)
Palestinian heritage is amazing, but you know what’s Palestine’s gift to the world? Musakhan.
Musakhan is a simple and straightforward recipe, it all relies on the quality of the ingredients you have. So make sure you get the best and freshest ingredients for the dish!
Make sure the sumac you use is good quality sumac. The darker the sumac, the better the quality. You want deep red/purple sumac, NEVER pink.
Musakhan is usually served with a side of yoghurt and it’s eaten with your hands. The filling is usually placed on top of taboun bread, but I decided to make musakhan rolls and have it in crispy, flaky, golden phyllo dough instead.
Ingredients:
Phyllo dough, at room temperature
4 chicken breasts or one whole shredded chicken
2-4 large onions, chopped
¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup (100g) pine nuts
1 cup water
⅓ cup squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
5 tbsp sumac
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Dice onions, and fry in olive oil for 15 minutes until caramelized.
Drain the onions, and in the same pan, cook 4 chicken breasts.
Brown on both sides, then add 1 cup of water and close the lid for 15 minutes until the water evaporates.
Shred the chicken.
Toast pine nuts in a pan.
In a bowl, combine onions, shredded chicken, lemon juice, sumac, cumin, and salt and pepper.
Combine pine nuts.
Add a bit reserved olive oil to the mixture to moisten if it was too dry.
Prepare the rolls by brushing olive oil on the entire phyllo dough sheet and filling 1 tablespoon of the filling into the phyllo.
Fold in the sides from the left and right, and carefully roll the phyllo dough into a roll to avoid tearing.
If the dough tears, use another piece of dough to fold it over in itself.
Place the rolls, fold down on a parchment paper on a baking tray.
Brush the reserved oil at the top of each roll.
Bake at 350ºF (177ºC) until golden and crispy.
Bon appétit!
