Moroccan Chicken and Apricot Tagine

Dried or fresh fruits are often key additions to sweet and savory Moroccan tagines such as

this one. Here, chicken is stewed until tender with onions, saffron, ginger, ​and pepper, and the dish is then topped with apricots and a honey-cinnamon syrup. Fried almonds or sesame seeds are traditional, but optional, garnishes. 

The seasoning here reflects a preference for fruit tagines that are zesty and a bit peppery. Feel free to reduce the white and black peppers (and Ras el Hanout, if using) if you want a seasoning that is on the mild side. Keep in mind that the cooking time is for traditional clay or ceramic tagine preparation. If you prepare this dish with conventional cookware, the ingredients will cook faster, so keep an eye on the chicken and sauce to make sure it doesn't overcook; you may need to reduce the cooking time by up to an hour.

By: Christine Benlafquih

Photo is from The Spruce Eats website.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/chicken-and-apricot-tagine-2394703

Prep: 15 mins              Cook: 2 hrs 15 mins                Total: 2 hrs 30 mins

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken (cut into 4 or 8 pieces)

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads (crumbled)

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon Ras el Hanout, optional

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

For the Tagine:

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 medium onions (grated) 

• 3 to 4 cloves garlic (pressed or finely chopped)

• 1 or 2 small pieces of cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)

• Small handful of cilantro sprigs tied into a bouquet

• 1/2 cup chicken broth

• 3/4 cup water

• 3 tablespoons sugar or honey

• 1 cup dried apricots

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Handful of fried almonds, optional

• 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, optional

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the chicken ingredients.

2. Combine the spices in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken.

3. Add the chicken and toss to evenly coat the pieces with the spices.

4. Gather the remaining tagine ingredients.

5. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the base of a large tagine or Dutch oven.

6. Add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and cinnamon stick. 

7. Add the seasoned chicken, meat-side down, in a single layer on top of the onions.

8. Place the cilantro bouquet on top. Add the broth to the tagine.

9. In the bowl used to season the chicken, swirl the water to cleanse it of the spices.

10. Add the water to the tagine.

11. Cover and leave the liquids to reach a simmer over medium-low heat.

12. Once simmering, cook the chicken, undisturbed, for 1 hour.

13. Remove 1/2 cup of the cooking liquids and set aside. 

14. Carefully turn over the chicken pieces so that they are meat-side up.

15. Cover the pan and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the chicken is done and the liquids are thick and reduced.

16. While the chicken is cooking, put the apricots in a small pot and cover with water.

17. Simmer the apricots over medium heat, partially covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender enough to pinch in half with your fingers.

18. Drain the apricots and return to the pot.

19. Add the sugar (or honey), ground cinnamon, and the 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid.

20. Simmer the apricots gently for 5 to 10 minutes, or until they are sitting in a thick syrup.

21. Discard the cilantro bouquet and cinnamon stick from the tagine.

22. Arrange the chicken on a large serving platter (or simply leave in the base of the tagine). Spoon the apricots and syrup on and around the chicken. If desired, garnish with fried almonds or sesame seeds.

My thoughts:

This recipe has lots of steps and lots of ingredients, however, your hard work will pay off in the end. Unlike some other recipes, this one lists the ingredients in the order that they will be used, so best to have them lined up and as the steps coincide with the list of ingredients. Also, the cooking time mentioned above is for using a Tangine, but if you use a Dutch over, the cooking time will be cut in half. How did it taste? Moroccan dishes definitely very flavorful, and this dish is bursting with flavor. Cooking chicken in a Dutch helps to keep the moisture in the chicken as it cooks it from all directions, instead of just from the bottom of the pan. This also enables the chicken to absorb the flavors of the ingredients. While the recipe says this will take two hours to cook, which almost turned me off to cooking this, this is actually the time to cook it in a Tagnine, since I used a a Dutch oven, it cooks the chicken faster. I served this over couscous, as this will absorb more of the broth, and adds to the flavor.