Chicken Tagine with Pickled Lemons
6 servings
240 minutes
Tagine is a traditional dish of North African peoples. In a tagine, a ceramic bowl with a cone-shaped lid, the products are simmered for as long as necessary for the meat to turn into a tender substance that melts on the tongue, and the spices, which are very popular in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, give it all their aromas and flavors.
1
Cut the chicken thighs in half. This is needed to fit the meat more compactly in the tagine.
2
Marinate the chicken in spices: three pinches of cumin, coriander, turmeric, and pepper mix; four pinches of paprika; one and a half pinches of ginger; three pinches of salt; and one and a half pinches of sugar.
- Cumin (zira): to taste
- Ground coriander: to taste
- Turmeric: to taste
- Paprika: to taste
- Ground ginger: to taste
- Salt: to taste
- Sugar: to taste
3
Add chopped salted lemons and mix everything thoroughly by hand. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Salted lemons: 60 g
4
Send the chicken to an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes. A crust should form — and that's it. If the chicken is fully cooked, it won't impart the flavor of the tagine.
5
Slice the onion into half rings and fry in a mixture of butter and vegetable oil until golden brown. Add honey and a little water to prevent the onion from stewing but frying with water. Cook over medium heat until the onion turns brown and absorbs the honey. Place the caramelized onion at the bottom of the tagine, then layer the chicken on top and pour in the fat from the baking tray.
- Onion: 1 kg
- Vegetable oil: 30 ml
- Butter: 30 g
- Honey: 100 g
6
Sprinkle the chicken with raisins, add large green olives.
- Raisin: 50 g
- Olive: 20 pieces
7
Again spices. A pinch of turmeric, paprika, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper mix, sugar. Fill the tagine to the top with cold water.
- Turmeric: to taste
- Paprika: to taste
- Ground coriander: to taste
- Cumin (zira): to taste
- Salt: to taste
- Sugar: to taste
8
A ceramic tagine can be placed in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for three and a half hours. It's better to soak the ceramic tagine in water beforehand to prevent possible cracking. For this, place the tagine in warm water overnight. If the tagine is cast iron, put it on the stove without a lid first. Bring the tagine to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. Leave it for three hours.
9
Garnish the finished tagine with chopped parsley and cilantro. Serve with couscous.
- Coriander: to taste
- Parsley: to taste