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Chicken & Olives Tagine

2021-10-07
  • Servings: 2

Chicken and green olives tagine is best known as a Moroccan dish but originally both the recipe and the earthenware pot in which it is cooked is Berber and, therefore, cooked also in other North African countries. in Algeria, for example, it is known as Tagine Zitoune (the latter is the Arabic word for olives).

The original dish has evolved with the arrival of Arab & Ottoman invaders and French colonialists.

One of the ingredients is preserved lemon. It just happened that my last preserved lemon had been used for something else so I used fresh lemon instead.

NB: You can cook this dish even if you don’t own a tagine pot. In fact my recipe herein was done in a normal pot.
But if you do want to cook it in the tagine pot, do follow the maker’s instructions before.

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken skinless thighs
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • Half tsp of each: ginger powder and turmeric
  • 1 tsp of ground coriander
  • 2 or 3 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 preserved lemon chopped or 1 whole fresh lemon, quartered
  • 1 big handful of pitted green olives
  • Organic chicken stock cube + few threads of saffron, diluted in half cup of water
  • A small handful of fresh coriander (or parsley), chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Step 1

In a large casserole, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs and cook until lightly browned then incorporate the onions followed by the garlic and spices except the salt. When fragrant, add the chopped preserved lemon or the fresh lemon pieces. Stir for 1 minute then add all the other ingredients. Let everything cook on a slightly lower heat until the chicken is cooked and a nice sauce has been formed. Taste the sauce and add the salt only if needed (the preserved lemon, the chicken stock cube and olives are already salty).

Step 2

Serve warm with a nice crusty bread or with couscous grains.

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