The Palestinian Sisters’ Musakhan

Born from a conversation with two wonderful sisters I met through Airbnb, this dish captures warmth and generosity. Sumac-spiced, tender, and full of flavour, it’s the kind of food you want to make again and again for friends. A recipe with heart and heritage.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1

Course Dinner, Main

Cuisine Drawn from Persian and Eastern Mediterranean influences

Servings servings

Calories 619

Ingredients

Ingredients for the batter

180 ml soya milk
1½ tsp ground black pepper
1½ tsp salt
5 g golden caster sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sumac
½ tsp ground allspice
95 g plain flour
2 cloves fresh garlic | finely minced or grated

Vegetables

300 g cauliflower
300 g red onion | unpeeled weight
200 g aubergine | uncooked weight
20 g fresh parsley
80 g green olives
40 g preserved lemon

Other ingredients

10 ml olive oil
1 tsp sumac
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
15 ml lemon juice
rapeseed oil | a pan with 1cm oil for frying the cauliflower chunks
30 g hummus

To serve

270 naan bread | a piece for each person weighing approx 90g
fresh lemon | wedges and zest to squeeze and dress
9 g slivered almonds

Instructions

Prepare the batter

Put all the batter ingredients into a tub, whisk with a whisk and leave to one side to thicken up. It will sit in the fridge for a day or two if you need to do it in advance.
1½ tsp ground black pepper, 1½ tsp salt, 5 g golden caster sugar, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp sumac, ½ tsp ground allspice, 95 g plain flour, 180 ml soya milk, 2 cloves fresh garlic

Prepare the veggies

Cut the cauliflower into chunks.
Peel and cut the onions into slender petals
Slice the aubergine on the diagonal
300 g cauliflower, 300 g red onion, 200 g aubergine

Make the parsley salad

Small dice chop the flat leaf parsley, olives and preserved lemon; mix.
20 g fresh parsley, 80 g green olives, 40 g preserved lemon

Cook the aubergine, onions, cauliflower

Cook the aubergine slices in a hot pan without oil, and put into a plastic tub and pop a lid on. Look carefully at the video to see when the slices are done. You're looking for colour but not that awful watery translucent look.
Cook the onions in a pan with the sumac, allspice, salt and pepper.
10 ml olive oil, 1 tsp sumac, ¼ tsp ground allspice, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper
During the cooking of the onions, put the cauliflower in the pan to char and pick up flavour from the onions.
When the onions are done and the cauliflower is charred a little, add the lemon juice to deglaze the pan and to make the flavours sing.
15 ml lemon juice
Lift the cauliflower chunks out from the onions. Leave the onions in the pan to keep warm (pop a lid on).

Cook the battered cauliflower

Put the cauliflower chunks into the batter and mix thoroughly.
Heat a fry pan with 1cm of oil and wait until the oil is hot. Put the cauliflower pieces into the oil and cook until toasty brown and a good colour. About 8 mins total.
rapeseed oil
Leave well alone and clear up rather than fiddle but they need turning after 4 mins.

Plate

Warm your naan bread and get your hummus and blanched almonds ready to go. Chop lemon wedges ready.
270 naan bread, 30 g hummus
Layer in this order: naan bread, hummus, aubergine slices, onions, cauliflower pieces, onions, blanched almonds, parsley salad, lemon wedge and finally lemon zest.
fresh lemon , 9 g slivered almonds

Notes

Multi-purpose: use the cauliflower and batter technique and serve as no-chicken buffalo wings.
Choice of naan bread: you need good thick flatbread. Flour tortillas or chapatti style breads won't work. Remember when choosing that you are using the bread like a pizza base.
Any remaining herbs: chop up and put into storage boxes and pop into the fridge. I find supermarket herbs prepped and stored this way last a fair few days.
The batter keeps OK in the fridge if you make it in advance
This meal doesn't reheat well. Make it eat it!

Nutrition

Calories: 619kcalCarbohydrates: 95gProtein: 18gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 2517mgPotassium: 856mgFiber: 11gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 940IUVitamin C: 73mgCalcium: 251mgIron: 4mg

Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.