Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine for the Tagine!

Um Safia's Note:

This tagine dish is to be cooked in a traditional tagine. Cooking times may vary slightly depending on size of tagine used and where it is being used. The preserved lemon adds a subtle flavour to the tagine but is not the predominent flavour...

• Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 6.0 fairly ...

• 6 skinless chicken thighs (large) or 6 chicken breasts (chopped into large cubes)
• 5 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 large onions , roughly chopped
• 4 cups chopped tomatoes, fresh or 4 cups canned tomatoes
• 3 cups chickpeas (tinned not dried)
• 1 inch piece fresh gingerroot , minced
• 5 ounces dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 3 tablespoons good quality honey
• 1 pint boiling water
• 1 chicken stock cube , Maggi
• ¼ teaspoon saffron strand , crumbled
• 4 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix
• salt
• 1 small preserved lemon
• 1 tablespoon best quality olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup fresh coriander , chopped to serve

Directions:

1. Put the olive oil in the bottom of the tagine and gently colour the onion and minced garlic. Add the chicken pieces and seal well.
2. In a large jug mix 1/2 pint of boiling water with 1 chicken cube and set aside.
3. To the tagine add the ginger, ras el hanout, saffron, tomato puree and honey. Mix well.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, chick peas, stock and the apricots to the tagine and season well with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well with a wooden spoon and cover with tagine lid.
5. Cook on a low heat for 2 hours. Remove the lid and add preserved lemon - rinse lemon well under cold tap. Remove and discard half of the flesh and finely slice the remaining flesh and peel. Add this to the tagine before replacing the lid and cook for a further 30 - 45 minutes or until the sauce is thick and well flavoured and chicken is ready to fall apart!
6. (Add a little stock or water to the sauce if it seems a little dry or too thick. Cook a little longer of not thick enough or the chicken is not at falling point.).
7. Finally serve in the tagine base dish with fresh coriander sprinkle dover the top. Serve with fresh baked bread or steamed cous cous.

Reviews

[Debbwl]

Wonderful blend of flavors. Was surprised at how sweet it was (guess I was not thinking about the all the apricots in it). Served the coriander on the side as there was someone over who dose not like it. Made using Chef #621626’s Moroccan Spiced Preserved Lemons. Also made on top of the stove, although I think the crackpot would also work. Thanks for the post.

[Chef floWer]

This was really yummy, I left out the chickpeas, because I'm not a fan of cooked chickpeas (I love chickpeas in hummus only) but it just as I cooked it worked out for our taste bugs. I only cooked it for one hour (instead of two) because I used pre-chopped 1 kg of chicken thigh pieces and the chicken was so tender. I used Preserved Lemons for the lemon preserved and served it with Savoury Couscous, perfect. Thank you Um Safia

[Sue Lau]

This turned out great! It was really delicious, and the chicken came out very tender. It had a wonderful flavor of saffron up front, with the other spices and the preserved lemon supporting in the background. The apricots went nicely with the other flavors. I used a dutch oven to cook it on the stovetop, which worked fine. I also used Julie B's Hive's Ras-El-Hanout Ras-El-Hanout (Moroccan Spice Blend). Thanks for posting!