Chicken Musakhan

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 4 pieces or 1kg chicken supremes (4-6 pieces, depending on size), skin on if desired
• 4 pieces of taboon bread or any flatbread like arabic or naan (approximately 330g)s
• black pepper
• 1 cinnamon
• 3 onions, sliced thinly (about 500g)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• sea salt
• 120 ml olive oil, plus an additional 2-3 tablespoons for drizzling
• 3 tbsp sumac
• 1 allspice
• 30 g pine nut
• 5 g parsley, chopped roughly
• 300 g greek-style yogurt
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan. In a large bowl, toss the chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the cumin, 1.5 tablespoons of sumac, the cinnamon, allspice, 1 teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Work the spice mix into every piece.
2. Spread the chicken on a parchment-lined tray, skin side up, and roast until cooked through and the skin is burnished — around 30 minutes for supremes, up to 45 minutes for quartered chicken. Rest the chicken on the tray and keep every drop of the spiced juices.
3. While the chicken roasts, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes until evenly golden — they catch quickly, so don't wander off. Lift them onto kitchen paper.
4. Pour the remaining 60ml of olive oil into the same pan, add the sliced onions and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft, glossy and pale gold — you want them yielding, not caramelised.
5. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sumac, the 2 teaspoons of cumin and a good crack of black pepper. Cook for another minute so the spices bloom into the oil, then pull the pan off the heat.
6. Switch the oven to the grill setting. Lay the flatbreads on a tray, drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and warm under the grill for a minute or two until just crisping at the edges.
7. To build: tear or cut the flatbread into quarters and lay across a large platter. Spoon the sumac onions generously over the bread, letting the red oil soak in. Sit the chicken on top, pour over any resting juices, and shower with the toasted pine nuts.
8. Scatter the parsley over the lot, tuck lemon wedges around the edge, and bring the bowl of Greek yoghurt to the table alongside.