Ingredients

• 1.6 kg halal-certified whole chicken
• 300 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1.2 kg yellow onions
• 6 tbsp ground sumac
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 taboon bread
• 40 g pine nuts
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
• to taste salt

Method

1. 01
   Season the chicken Rub the chicken pieces all over with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the sumac, the allspice, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, lemon juice and about 2 teaspoons of salt.
2. 02
   Marinate the chicken Cover the chicken and leave it in the fridge to marinate for at least one hour.
3. 03
   Roast the chicken Heat the oven to two hundred degrees Celsius, arrange the chicken skin side up in a roasting pan, and roast for about forty-five minutes until golden and cooked through.
4. 04
   Slice the onions While the chicken roasts, slice the onions thinly into half moons.
5. 05
   Cook the onions slowly Warm 150 millilitres of olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat, add the onions with a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring often, for about thirty minutes until very soft and pale golden.
6. 06
   Season the onions Stir 3 tablespoons of sumac into the onions, season with salt, and cook for two more minutes.
7. 07
   Toast the pine nuts Toast the pine nuts in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan over medium-low heat, stirring, for about four minutes until golden.
8. 08
   Oil the bread Lay the taboon loaves on baking trays and brush each one with about a tablespoon and a bit of olive oil and a spoonful of the chicken pan juices, using 75 millilitres of oil in total.
9. 09
   Assemble the musakhan Spread the sumac onions evenly over each loaf, then set two pieces of chicken on top of each one.
10. 10
    Bake until crisp Return the trays to the oven for about ten minutes, until the edges of the bread are crisp and the chicken is hot.
11. 11
    Garnish and serve Scatter the pine nuts, the last tablespoon of sumac and the parsley over the top, drizzle with the final tablespoon of olive oil, and serve hot to eat with your hands.