One of the most delicious Moroccan dishes is Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons. It's wonderful because the tagine cooking technique yields a tender and flavorful chicken, while the preserved lemons add a tangy touch to the dish. To cook with a tagine you place all of the ingredients inside the tagine at the same time, cover and cook slowly and gently as you would a ragout. What you end up with is an amazingly fragrant dish.
According to Mary Ellen Snodgrass, in her Encyclopedia of Kitchen History, tagines can be traced back to an 8th century ruler of the Islamic empire, and they've been a staple of Maroccan cooking technique ever since. You can buy tagines glazed or unglazed; I have three and they're all glazed. My favorite tagine producer is Emile Henry, in Marcigny, Burgundy France since 1850.
Tagines aren't just for Moroccan cookery Tagines are perfect to prepare any one pot, slow cookery dish. Tagines also make a beautiful presentation when brought to the table If you don't have one, I recommend purchasing one.
To make a perfect tagine the first step is to prepare an aromatic base: sauté spices, garlic and onions in a little oil. Then add your main ingredient...usually chicken, lamb or fish...and toss it in the aromatic base until it's coated. The next step is usually to add honey and a soft or dried fruit like prunes, apricots or raisins which help create a syrupy base for the tagine.
Finally add all your other ingredients, usually different vegetables. The conical design of the tagine allows the steam generated during the cooking process to rise to the top of the tagine and then drip back down onto the ingredients. This way the wonderful flavors become well amalgamated during the slow cooking process. The meat or fish cooks from the heat of the flame and the other ingredients are cooked by the steam. If you use a lot of vegetables in your dish they'll generate enough moisture during cooking. Otherwise add a glass of water or broth to the tagine just before you start cooking.
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons
Serves 4-6
There are a number of wonderful recipes for chicken tagine with preserved lemons, most of them delicious Moroccan tagines. This recipe uses those wonderful flavors, but is a simpler, easier to prepare version.
Ingredients
Chicken, one whole, cut into pieces and skinned
Ginger, ½ teaspoon
Cumin, ½ teaspoon
Salt, ½ teaspoon
Black pepper, freshly ground, ½ teaspoon
Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
Saffron, 1 thread
Onions, 2 medium, thinly sliced
Olive oil, 3 tablespoons
Cinnamon stick
Preserved lemons, 3 medium
Olives, calamata or other similar, 10, pitted
Vegetable broth, ½ liter (2 cups)
Parsley, a small bunch, minced
One lemon, sliced, for garnish
Have a question or want to leave your own tips and recommendations? Click here to leave a comment:
Leave a CommentCooking Instructions
Remove all the pulp from the preserved lemons and discard.
Slice the lemons into thin strips and set aside.
Gently sauté the ginger, cumin, garlic, saffron and onion together in the olive oil over a low flame for about fifteen minutes until tender and slightly browned.
Toss the chicken pieces in this aromatic base and sauté on all sides until just browned.
Top with the olives, preserved lemons, salt, pepper and cinnamon stick.
Pour the broth over the chicken.
Cover and cook over a low flame until the chicken is cooked through and starting to separate from the bones (about 30 to 45 minutes). If the broth evaporates during cooking add a small amount of water to the pan.
While the chicken is cooking mince the parsley and slice the lemon for garnish.
Serve the chicken directly from the tagine; first top with minced parsley and sliced lemons.
Please note that the below printable recipe can be viewed and printed in either metric or U.S. conventional measurements; just click on your preference within the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 whole Chicken cut into pieces and skinned
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper freshly ground
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 thread Saffron
- 2 medium Onions thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 3 medium Preserved lemons
- 10 pitted Olives calamata or other similar
- 2 cups Vegetable broth ½ liter
- 1 small bunch Parsley minced
- 1 One lemon sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Remove all the pulp from the preserved lemons and discard.
- Slice the lemons into thin strips and set aside.
- Gently sauté the ginger, cumin, garlic, saffron and onion together in the olive oil over a low flame for about fifteen minutes until tender and slightly browned.
- Toss the chicken pieces in this aromatic base and sauté on all sides until just browned.
- Top with the olives, preserved lemons, salt, pepper and cinnamon stick.
- Pour the broth over the chicken.
- Cover and cook over a low flame until the chicken is cooked through and starting to separate from the bones (about 30 to 45 minutes).
- If the broth evaporates during cooking add a small amount of water to the pan.
- While the chicken is cooking mince the parsley and slice the lemon for garnish.
- Serve the chicken directly from the tagine; first top with minced parsley and sliced lemons.
Nutrition
I make a small commission on purchases made through links on my website. Prices are identical, but purchasing through my links helps support my work to bring you great recipes, culinary and travel information!
Please leave your comment here. Your feedback is important!