Hello there, grilling season! Chicken with Sumac

In true Michigan fashion, the weather has been a bit….mercurial, lately. My head – and my grocery list – is still in the comfort food/calorie bomb part of the year, but the temperature was over 50 degrees the other day and the sun was shining and I really, really didn’t want to stand over a stove. (Also it was my turn to wash dishes.) And I got distracted by frolicking outdoors and didn’t set up anything at all in advance, so this was a last-minute, improvised effort.

While I very much enjoy the original version, which is sauteed with sliced onions and loaded into a pita and really isn’t all that much work, I can definitely see this getting tossed into a cooler for a day at the beach or showing up as part of a leisurely dinner on the deck. (Y’all, I am planning SO MANY outdoor dinners this summer. Bring dessert.) I think it benefitted from hanging out in the sort-of marinade for about 15 minutes while the grill finished heating, or you could skip it, or you could keep it in there for a good long while. It’s really hard to mess up chicken thighs, which are super forgiving and won’t dry out like chicken breasts tend to.

NOT THIS ONE!!!

Wondering what the hell sumac is? I was too, when it first showed up in a recipe for fattoush. It’s a spice made from ground sumac berries – not the poisonous variety, obviously – with a tart, lemony flavor and gorgeous dark-red color. It’s often mixed into za’atar and other spice blends, and I like to use it in place of paprika as a finish or in anything involving lamb. I buy mine at a Middle Eastern grocery store nearby, not only because I like to support local businesses but also because Halim will often make me a cup of coffee so we can sit down and visit for a bit while I shop.

This recipe is adapted from The Food and Cooking of the Middle East by Ghillie Basan, which we picked up some years ago from the remainders section at Barnes & Noble and have cooked from regularly ever since. Fun fact: It turns out this is a renamed version of The Food and Cooking of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, which is what the link will take you to on Amazon. If anyone with experience in the publishing industry has some insight on this, please enlighten me. 

Palestinian Chicken with Sumac – Grilled Edition

1 medium onion, pureed as much as you can in the food processor (unless you feel like doing this by hand, but why?)
1 heaping Ikea spoon of garlic paste (maybe 1 ½ teaspoons? ish?) or 3-4 cloves garlic, mashed (or throw it into the food processor with the onion, if you like)
2-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (I made that amount up. Cook as much or as little as you want.)
3 tsp ground sumac
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
3 Tbsp lemon juice
Splash of olive oil
Salt and pepper                    

 Put the chicken in a mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and toss to combine. Ideally this will sit for a little bit while you get the grill going, but it’s very forgiving. Grill over medium coals until the chicken is cooked through (duh) and the edges have those delicious little charred bits.

I like to serve these wrapped up in Syrian bread with hummous, garlic, and some sort of salad or slaw. I’m told some people like to add pickles to these kinds of sandwiches but I don’t think I’m friends with any of those monsters. Yogurt would be nice. So would pilaf. Or slice it and put it on top of fattoush. It’s good cold out of the fridge, reheats nicely in the microwave, and is just as tasty at room temperature. It also scales up infinitely with no extra work so you can feed a crowd.