1whole chickencut into pieces (or 4 legs and 2 breasts)
0.33cupolive oil
1poundyellow onionssliced paper thin, two very large onions
1bunch fresh cilantrotied with twine
6clovesfresh garlicpressed or finely minced
2teaspoonsfreshly grated ginger
1teaspoonfreshly ground pepper
1teaspoonturmeric
0.5teaspoonsea salt
0.5teaspoonsaffron threadscrumbled
1cupgreen and red Greek olivesor just green
1 - 2preserved lemonquartered
Instructions
Place your tagine (or a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add olive oil and sliced onions. Cover with lid and cook until they’re soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the minced garlic, ginger, saffron, turmeric, salt, and pepper over the onions. Stir to combine. Place the chicken in the pot skin-side down and brown for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Pour in one cup of water and place tied bundle of cilantro over the chicken. Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the chicken is tender and almost ready to fall of the bones, 45-50 minutes. Do not allow the chicken to scorch, adjust the heat accordingly.
Once cooked, remove chicken and cilantro from the pot. Transfer chicken to a plate and discard the cilantro.
Reduce sauce over medium heat until reduced, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
Add the preserved lemon wedges and olive to the onion sauce mixture, stir to combine. Heat over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Return chicken to the pan to warm through.
Place chicken on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over the top. Serve with French Fries, couscous, rice and warm flatbread.
Notes
Try not to add any water as the chicken is cooking. The chicken will baste in it’s own juices.
Tagines shine with slow cooking. Low heat makes the chicken tender and gives the spices time to meld beautifully. Don’t rush it!
Place onions at the bottom of the tagine. This prevents the chicken from sticking and allows the flavors to steam upward.
This dish is traditionally made with a preserved lemon. I could not find them anywhere so I substituted a fresh lemon with a pinch of salt and it was delicious.
You can also make this dish in a Traditional Tagine according to manufactures instructions.
