This North African stew, named for the pot in which it is customarily made, is available in a variety of flavors, from beef and prune to pea and artichoke, but one of the most popular Moroccan variations is chicken and olive. The earthenware tagine’s conical form helps to keep everything pleasantly moist, but fortunately, it can be prepared just as successfully in a regular pot as well.
15 minutes to prepare
45 minutes of cooking
4-6 portions
2 onions red
Mash three garlic cloves with a teaspoon of salt.
Salt
12 teaspoon saffron strands
two little preserved lemons
2 tablespoons of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
one little bunch of fresh coriander
6 chicken thighs with no bone (see step 3)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1.5 tsp. of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 lemon juice
3 tbsp. violet olives
Chop the pulp of one of the preserved lemons coarsely (keep the other for another use if you don’t mind the taste; in that case, you could also use it in your tagine). Two tablespoons of each parsley and coriander should be roughly chopped.
2 … and the lemons and herbs
Cut the rind off the preserved lemons, and cut it into thin slivers.
3 A word about chicken
I make this dish with skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, but you could also use bone-in breasts or even joint a whole chicken if you prefer; in that case, you would need to adjust the cooking times. Both the skin and the bones add flavor, but you can remove them before serving if you don’t want to inconvenience your guests.
4 Choose a cooking utensil.
Place a tagine or heavy-based, wide-bottomed shallow pan on the stove.
