Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon

Apologies for my long absence. I had a few weeks of hardly being able to drag myself away from the news. Posting about food seemed so pointless in the light of what was going on in the world. However, time gets you used to anything it seems and I’m trying reconnect with the more pleasant side of life. 

Quite a few of you will recognise this recipe. I’ve made it so many times for so many people that I have to remind myself it’s not mine.  Moroccan chicken tagine made with olives and preserved lemon is a very traditional dish and if you have been to Morocco then you have probably tried it. Having said that, I think this recipe, from Simply Recipes, is better than any I’ve had – even in Morocco. It’s very straightforward and it just works! 

Just to be clear, a tagine is really the name of the dish itself – a flat round clay base with a pointed lid – but the kind of sauce based stews that are cooked in them are liberally refereed to as tagines. 

The one thing you are going to need is the preserved lemon which you can buy, or make. Click here to see how to make them or watch this  video of me making them (!)  courtesy of my friend Annette. As you will see they take a few weeks so if you are anxious to get going on this recipe then you could just use thin slices of lemon rind and add more salt, or freeze some lemon slices, then sprinkle them with salt.  The water will come out of them and they will soften in an hour or two. 

I do in fact have a tagine but I must confess that I don’t cook this in it. I find it works so well in my big heavy frying pan I just use the tagine for serving. 

Moroccan Tagine with lemon and olives

Serves 4-6. Prep time 1.15 mins  Cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• I teaspoon ground cumin
• I teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• olive oil
• 1.5 – 2 kg chicken. I use thighs because I find them the tastiest. 
• salt
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• I large onion chopped
• rind of one preserved lemon cut into strips
• 1 cup pitted green olives
• ‘1/2 cup seedless raisins

• 1/2 cup water or chicken stock
• Fresh cilantro and parsley

Method

1. Pat dry the chicken pieces and roll each piece in the spices. Allow to marinate for at least an hour – longer if you can.
2. Heat some olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and brown each piece of chicken for a few minutes on each side. Sprinkle lightly with salt – but don’t overdo it because the olives and lemons are salty. Add any remaining spice mix to the pan. 
3. Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan and cover. Allow to cook medium low for about 15 mins. The onions will sweat and provide some liquid.
4. Add the olives, preserved lemon, raisins and water/stock. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 30 mins
5. Take the lid off and cook for another 5 mins. The sauce should be quite thick and full of flavour by now. 
6. Garnish with finely chopped coriander and parsley leaves directly before serving.

You can serve this with rice, couscous or bread. I personally like bread because I like to mop up the fantastic sauce. I often serve it with a grated carrot salad, chopped tomato salad and a small bowl of Greek yoghurt. This one is a keeper I can promise you!