Spicy Moroccan chicken tagine

I am a firm believer that there are a number of ways in which the world can definitively be divided into two types of people:

People who can touch their toes and those who can’t.

People who are fundamentally dishonest and those who aren’t.

Starfish sleepers and corpse sleepers.

And people who love hot chilli and those who don’t.

And like starfish and corpse sleepers who inevitably end up married to one another (ask around – you’ll see I’m right!), more often than not a chilli-lover and a chilli-hater end up married to each other.

Seeing as I am of the opinion that Nando’s lemon and herb chicken is a little on the spicy side, obviously I had to go and marry a man who once downed a double tot glass of half Tabasco and half tequila for a laugh. The line between stupid and hard-core narrows daily!

Years of marriage have kind of conditioned me to believe that everyone except me loves hot food, so when I cook I tend to assume that if I can take the heat then it should be fine for everyone else too.  But as Samuel L Jackson said, assume makes an ass out of you and me.  So when I made a spicy chicken tagine as the second course of a recent Valentine's Day lunch (to follow the halloumi with zaa'tar and red pepper coulis), I tasted it and dubbed it hot but not unbearable... but some of my guests thought I was trying to incinerate them. Live and learn!

This recipe is adapted from one by Jean-Christophe Novelli.  I replaced the poussin with chicken pieces, increased the quantities and added some touches of my own, like preserved lemons.  The dried apricots I used were diced, but next time I would use whole or halved dried apricots - otherwise their sweetness gets lost.  NB - there is a LOT of spice in this recipe!! if you like things not-so-spicy, I would decrease the cayenne pepper to 1 tsp but if you like spice, this dish is perfectly balanced between sweetness and heat.  In the interests of full disclosure, I made this in two Le Creuset Dutch ovens - I do not own some mutant giant tagine dish that can take such a huge amount of food.  I served it on fluffy couscous and accompanied by a simple salad of flat-leaf parsley, cherry tomatoes and diced cucumber.  And a cool bowl of yoghurt on the side for spice-phobes!

 

SPICY MOROCCAN CHICKEN TAGINE (serves 6-8)

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

1.5-2kg chicken pieces (I used drumsticks and thighs)
3 tsp cayenne pepper
6 tsp ground black pepper
4.5 Tbsp paprika
4.5 Tbsp ground ginger
3 Tbsp turmeric
6 Tbsp ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp olive oil
6 Tbsp argan oil (I used sunflower)
6 large onions, finely diced
9 cloves garlic, minced
1 litre tomato juice
4x400g tinned chopped tomatoes
300g dried apricots, halved
150g raisins or sultanas
2 preserved lemons, chopped
200 g blanched flaked almonds
2 tsp strands saffron, soaked in cold water
1.5 litre chicken stock
3 Tbsp clear honey

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C. Place the cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix. Cover with cling film and leave overnight in the fridge.

Heat 3 Tbsp each of the olive oil and argan oil in a large casserole dish that can be used on the stove top or in the oven. Add the onions and the remaining spice mix and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the garlic for the final 3 minutes.

Heat the remaining oil in a heavy griddle pan and when it is really hot place the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes (use a splatter screen - it's going to sizzle and spit!). Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and place in the casserole dish.

Pour 250ml tomato juice into the griddle pan and stir well, scraping up all the bits on the bottom, then pour the contents of the pan into the casserole dish.

Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, preserved lemon, raisins, flaked almonds, saffron, stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a tightly fitting lid and cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

 

Comments

[diva]

MMMM..a tagine. This looks too delicious. A hearty dish perfect now that the cold has suddenly returned! :)

[meeta]

lol! i do like spicy food but have to say married a man you can eat hot indian pickle straight out of the jar! this looks so inviting and good!

[nina]

I like ti hot, he doesn't.......compromise....hate that word! Love this heartwarming dish and Oh boy I love the wine decanter!

[Jamie]

Wonderful! I so love tagine and we make them often so here is one I absolutely must try! Love the mix of spicy, savory and sweet. Beautiful dish!

And yes you have JP and I down to a tee!

[Jamie]

And how did you get your couscous so perfect like that?

[Melanie Heavenly]

Both my partner and I sleep tidily [not quite corpses] and we both like hot food and we can both touch our toes. What does that say about us! We're not excacly honest though - not in small ways - nothing criminal I hasten to add. We still managed to disagree about most things though. Anyway........ this recipe looks great - love your site!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

I no longer use myself as the taste-test for heat, because apparently I've developed a huge tolerance for it! I too have seen people suffer at my table. But I love all things tagine, and this dish is one that will go into my repertoire.

[Marisa]

Let's see - can't touch my toes, not a chilli fan (although I do like mild heat), corpse sleeper and fundamentally honest.

I love love love that you've used preserved lemons in this tagine - it's my newest addiction!

[Soma]

Mmmmmm... so good!

[Kit]

I'm the spice wuss in our marriage (those Wasabi nuts at CTBC blew the roof off my mouth!), but I do like the fragrant spices and this sounds delicious. I'll just add cayenne cautiously to start with!

[courtney]

Surprisingly the German loves heat and spice. Guess why hes with me. LOL. This dish is a winner with all the elements.

[Kitchen Butterfly]

I love Tagines...and this is no exception. Sorry some of the guests found it too hot! Happy Easter

[Manggy]

Huh, I guess the years have changed you Jeanne! I love spicy food but I would never drink that much Tabasco (at least not for a sizable amount of money). But I would give just as much to taste this lovely tagine!
By the way, I believe it was the great Benny Hill who said that quote first, not Samuel L Jackson :)

[Wendy t]

I have one of those husbands...hotter the better! Great tagine recipe! Interesting the addition of the argan oil. In some areas here in Morocco they dont cook with it, only using it for salads and flavouring after the cooking, however in the south they cook with it all the time! Possibly as its cheaper and more available in the South? Have a wonderful Easter Jeanne. xxxx

[johanna]

mmmh that looks delicious... and you know it can't ever be to hot for me!!! x

[Sarah, Maison Cupcake]

That looks tasty... I like mine HOT!

[Elizabeth]

I adore tajines! We make one similar to this with apricots AND prunes. And recently, we made a more savoury tajine using preserved lemons and sun-dried olives. I cannot decide which I like better!

I used not to be able to eat spicy food either. I too am married to someone who once ate freshly shaved habaneros on crackers as a joke. He also routinely eats whole green chillis - the devilish little Thai chillis. Now, after twenty years, I find myself craving hot food. I used to carefully give ALL of my blackened cayenne chillies to my husband (who demanded that I do so rather than push them to the side of my plate). But recently, I have neeeeeeeeeded to retain one of the chillis to nibble on from time to time.

(My turning point was the greenchili/corianderleaf omelette.)

[Kevin (Closet Cooking)]

This tagine is just packed with amazing flavours!

[Pille @ Nami-Nami]

Help me, Jeanne - what's a starfish sleeper and corpse sleeper????
The recipe looks like something that I'd love, though I'd probably reduce the amount of Cayenne'i a little. I'm an Estonian after all ;)

[Bordeaux]

Love a good tagine. Fabulous.

[Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet]

Heh, it's funny how palates differ from person to person. I went to Awana a few months ago with a Malaysian. We ate the same side dish - I said it's spicy and he said it isn't at all. It was also interesting to talk to the creators of authentic Indian takeaway review I have to do. They have a hard balancing act to do to tend to Brits' tongues but remain true to the dish....

[Julia]

this is something I'll definitely make.

[Niamh]

This looks delicious! I could devour this now.

[deeba]

Never made a tangine, and even if it isn't South African (*wink wink*) I am very distracted by this recipe! I like it hot!!

[Edeth]

This tagine might just be my rainy Saturday project! If I can get it anywhere close to the tagines I had in Morocco in 2001, I will be a happy woman!

[Sam van Straaten]

Hi there! I am from Cape Town and I would like to know where I will be able to find one of these tagine pots? Can you please send me in some sort of direction? I have searched everywhere online and can't seem to find anything in any product catalogue [not Woolworths, Boardman's or @home]. Please help!

[Katherine]

What is a preserved lemon and where would one find one?

[tanya]

preserved lemons are not easily found... but so easy to do. i have just donr some for the first time. its so easy. all you need is a jar with a sealable lid, lemons and salt... just type in "preserved lemons" and they will give you the simple instructions.. good luck

[elizabeth]

Why 12 tablespoons of oils when only 2 are used in the recipe?

[Bobby]

I have made this twice now, both times without the dried fruit as me and hubby dont like fruit in savoury meals and it's still delicious. I do have a tagine, but find that with all the liquid it cant be cooked in it, so i usually just dish it up into the tagine without all the added juices.
Lovely!

[konni]

seed oils should actually be used for salads only as they are carcinogenic [cancer causing] when heat is applied - hence argan oil or olive oil is ok too since the cooking process is done on fairly low heat. For high heat cooking/frying use coconut or rice bran oils - peanut oil unless organic has too many pesticides - sesame has a strong flavor and all canola oils are hybrids and genetically modified - best to stay away from those completely, as even the organic ones are not that good for you either.....

[Rachel]

We followed this recipe the other day and only managed to eat a third of it between 7 of us! There was a lot of liquid (we ended up splitting it into 3 containers to cook in) - maybe it would be improved without the litre of tomato juice??