Name: Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients: 1 pc chicken thighs; 0.5 tablespoon olive oil; 0.25 pcs onion; 0.5 pcs carrot; 0.75 clove garlic; 5 g ginger; 0.25 teaspoon cumin; 0.25 teaspoon bell pepper; 0.25 teaspoon turmeric; 0.125 teaspoon cinnamon; 0.5 tablespoon tomato paste; 0.25 tin chickpeas; 30 g dried apricots; 100 ml poultry stock; 0.25 pcs lemon; 0.25 tablespoon honey; salt; black pepper; coriander; 62.5 g couscous; 75 ml water; 0.25 tablespoon olive oil; salt

Step by step process

Preparation

1
Pat the chicken thighs dry and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Slice the onion into thin half-moons, cut the carrot into diagonal slices, and finely chop the garlic and ginger.
2
Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice from one half, and slice the other half into wedges to add a fresh tang to the finished dish later.

Braising

3
Heat the olive oil in a pot, briefly sear the chicken thighs on both sides until golden, then remove them and set aside so the meat stays juicy.
4
Add the onion and carrot to the same pot and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Then stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, sweet paprika, turmeric, and cinnamon, and cook only briefly so the spices do not turn bitter.
TIP:
Briefly fry ground spices, curry pastes, and aromatic blends in fat, usually for just a few dozen seconds. The heat brings out their aroma and flavor, but watch them carefully so they do not burn and turn bitter.
5
Add the tomato paste, chickpeas, and dried apricots, return the chicken to the pot, pour in the chicken stock and lemon juice, cover, and simmer over low heat for 30 to 35 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly.
6
At the end, taste the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and if you want a slightly fuller flavor, stir in a spoonful of honey.

Couscous

7
Put the couscous in a bowl, mix it with olive oil and a pinch of salt, pour over the boiling water, cover, and let it stand for 5 minutes so it absorbs all the liquid.
TIP:
First, mix the couscous with a little oil, pour over the measured amount of boiling liquid, and cover. After a few minutes, fluff it with a fork so it stays light and separate.
8
Then fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains and keep the side dish light and airy.

Serving

9
Divide the couscous among plates, top with the braised chicken, chickpeas, and apricots, and spoon over some of the fragrant sauce from the pot.
10
Sprinkle the finished tagine with cilantro and serve hot with lemon wedges so everyone can squeeze some directly over their portion.

More tips:

If the sauce thickens too much while braising, add a few spoonfuls of hot stock so it stays silky and provides enough juices for the couscous as well.

The tagine tastes even better the next day, because the spices blend more fully in the sauce and the apricots give the dish a deeper sweetness.

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