Ras El-Hanout, Moroccan Spiced Chicken
photo by MartzMimic
- Ready In:
- 1hr 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 59.14 ml ground cinnamon
- 14.79 ml turmeric
- 7.39 ml fresh ground black pepper
- 3.69 ml nutmeg, fresh ground
- 3.69 ml ground cardamom
- 3.69 ml ground cloves
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 4 chicken thighs
- 14.79 ml fresh thyme
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 118.29 ml olive oil, plus
- 14.79 ml olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 709.77 ml chicken broth
- salt
directions
- To make the Ras al-hanout spice mixture: Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves in a small bowl.
- Thoroughly pat the chicken dry and dredge in the ras al-hanout spices until pieces are nicely covered but not over-loaded. Place in a bowl or large dish and scatter thyme and garlic over the chicken. Pour 1/2 C olive oil over and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible, or several hours.
- Remove marinated chicken and place on counter for 30 minutes. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the dish, keeping the marinade, and brown chicken on all sides in the hot oil. (Do not rush this as the browning will help keep the chicken from feeling "dusty" from the spice mix covering it. This is also why you do not want to over-load the chicken with the spice mix.)
- Set the chicken aside and add the onion to the Dutch oven, cook until translucent.
- Return the chicken to the Dutch oven, adding the lemon and the reserved marinade. Sprinkle generously with salt. Add enough broth to almost cover the chicken, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken has begun to pull away from the bones and is quite tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid the last 15 minutes of cooking time to reduce the broth. If it needs to reduce further, remove the chicken and boil the broth until nicely reduced to approximately 2 cups, but you can reduce it less if you want more sauce. You can thicken the sauce with cornstarch mixed with water.
- Serve with white rice or other grain of choice.
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Reviews
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I've made this dish several times but I changed a couple of things about the process. The technique for the marinade didn't make sense to me so I made it a wet marinade by combining the spices, about 2 tbsp of olive oil, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and the thyme. I then rub it under the skin of the chicken pieces and let them hang out overnight.<br/><br/>Then, with the onion, I include a cup or so of baby carrots and another 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Also, instead of adding in a quartered lemon (as lemon cooked over a period of time can get bitter), I add in the zest of one lemon and a couple of sprigs of thyme with the broth and then finish the sauce with the juice of half of the lemon. Sometimes I will add a bit more Ras el Hanout if I think the sauce needs it.<br/><br/>I always get rave reviews from this dish, and I would highly recommend it.
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My DH said this merits 5 stars since he ate any leftovers that there was SUPPOSE to be LOL I served it over a fruited couscous I concoted. I did not add much of the leftover marinade since it was just to much oil for me. I found the marinade even after sitting so long did not go thru the meat like I thought it would so am not sure if I should of used skinless meat or not , recipe does not state this. Made for Zaar CookBook Tag
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Stay-at-Home mom of two preschoolers. Love to cook, but don't have much time these days. I'm always on the look-out for good meals that are yummy, nutritious, and easy to put together.