Chicken and lemon tagine

The classic Moroccan meal is an aromatic stew-like dish, filled with juicy chicken and dotted with green olives. Traditionally cooked in a triangular namesake pot (a tagine) you can also successfully use a saucepan.

Chicken and lemon tagine Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 800 g skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into thirds
• 250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
• 170 g (1 cup) pearl couscous
• 12 large green pitted olives
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• ¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley
• lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

1. Place the garlic, salt, turmeric, cumin, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and onion into a food processor and blitz until a smooth thick paste is achieved. Place in a large bowl, add the chicken and stir to combine well.
2. Place a large frying pan over high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Once the oil is very hot, add the chicken in a single layer and cook, without stirring or turning for 3 minutes or until a lovely golden brown. Turn the chicken over and carefully pour the stock into the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low.
3. Using a spoon, nestle the pearl couscous around the sides of the chicken pieces and place the green olives around the pan. Cover and simmer, without stirring for 12-15 minutes or until the couscous is cooked.
4. Meanwhile, remove the stalks from the parsley and roughly chop the leaves. Scatter the parsley over the chicken, add some lemon wedges and serve it on the table in the pan.

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.