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Tradional Palestinian dish - reminds me of beduin 'mansaf' in presentation. Delicious!
2 chickens, each cut in 6 or 8 pieces
2 cups olive oil
4 large loaves pita bread
6 chopped onions
1/2 cup water
1 cup pine nuts
I tsp saffron
3 TBSP ground sumac*
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Shallow baking dish; large, oven-proof serving platter or pan (in Middle East often served on the large, round heavy flat pans used in bakeries - in fact the dish was often prepared at home and sent to the neighborhood bakery for cooking.)
PREHEAT oven to 350 deg. F. Rub the chicken pieces with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish surrounded with chopped onions and water. Cook for 30 minutes, turning occasionally.
MEANWHILE, lightly brown the pine nuts in butter (or olive oil) and cook the onion in olive oil until soft and brown; combine onions and pine nuts. Sprinkle the chicken with olive oil and cover with a mixture of pine nuts, saffron, sumac, and paprika.
AFTER 30 minutes, transfer the cooked chicken to the top of the bread which should have been soaked in olive oil and arrayed on a large, oven-proof platter. Broil the chicken and bread, covered with the spices and pine nuts, for about 5 minutes. Serve and eat with
fingers.
*Sumac: Rhus coriaria; Rh. glabra; Rh. aromatica - a sour spice, also used by the Indians of North America to make sour drinks. Sources for spices...
