The Palestinian Musakhan.

 

The Palestinian Musakhan is a popular Palestinian dish, as well as sometimes being considered the traditional dish and a symbol of the Palestinian heritage. It is often called the national dish of Palestine. Although today, it is often difficult for the Palestinians in the diaspora to prepare it, and perhaps for those in occupied Palestine too. This is due to the excessive cost of living for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, a country that is going through financial hardship beyond imagination, and has a pathetic economy.

Lebanon is a beautiful country that has a rich history of culture and urbanization, but it lacks any pity towards the Palestinian refugees who were hosted there after the Nakbah in 1948. Lebanon has stripped them of their civil, political, and economic rights. A significant percentage of Palestinians who live there, against their will, still live in camps surrounded by Lebanese army checkpoints, some of these camps are fenced with high walls, which magically allow entry to terrorists and the drugs that slaughter the Palestinian youths who suffer from a lack of any civil rights.

I was introduced to this dish when I was a young woman and about to participate in a workshop of the Lebanese Ministry of Youth and Sports (a leader for the Euro-Med youth), a program that supports and enhances the participation and contribution of youth organizations and youths from the Euro-Mediterranean region in the development of society. I was representing a Palestinian youth association, and they asked each member of the event to bring a famous traditional dish from their town, as an introduction to get to know each other on the first day of the meeting.

To my surprise, I did not know if we had a traditional Palestinian dish. So, I asked the most beautiful and kindest women in the world, my mother, what is it and why I have no knowledge or of it; my mother replied: “It is the Palestinian Musakhan and consists of chicken, onions, sumac, bread, and olive oil.” She continued “My beloved daughter, how can I share this Palestinian dish with you, when I have been struggling since my birth after the Nakba with your upbringing? In addition to the Palestinian struggle in Lebanon between the right of return, and living through  the civil war and the constant Israeli invasions there, so I felt that it was to practice Palestinian embroidery to make a living from it, And the free Palestinian Dabkeh dance that we attends at all Palestinian weddings is all I can pass to time for the time being.”

 

Let us stop here and start talking about our star topic in this article, Today's delicious and nutritious recipe and the modern method of cooking it, with the rich ingredients, which I will share with you today, remain an almost exact copy of the traditional version.

The ingredients are sufficient for five people as a main meal, and to go with it, the Fattoush salad is more than enough. Here you will find a link on how to prepare it.

https://palestinianrefugeeproject.blogspot.com/2022/04/fattoush-is-one-of-most-important-and.html

Musakhan ingredients:

 You can add more or less contents according to your taste.

·       1kg of chicken breast

·       1kg of regular or red onions

·       25g of Sumac

·       A large cup of olive oil

·       Arabic flat bread or tortilla / the quantity depends on the type, and this is up to the discretion of the individual

·       Black pepper and salt to taste

·       pine nuts for decoration or adding it to the mixture adds a distinctive flavour

Method:

We cut a kilo of chicken into a good bite size a medium-sized rectangle or - whatever shape you adopt; however, it is suitable to be inside the wrap.

Then we cut the onions into vertical shapes and set them aside.

We put the olives on a medium heat, and we fry the onions until they reach the colour of redness, add the chicken breasts, some people boil the chicken before adding it while others fry it.

When we feel that the chicken is well cooked, add the sumac, salt and spices and leave it on a low heat for fifteen minutes more or less until it is ready. Bon Appétit!

 

Today I shared with you the simple home-cooking method for the Palestinian Musakhan, and I hope you will enjoy it. I hope you share with me your comments on the website, and your experience in preparing this delicious, quick, and light dish.

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