Tuesday, 8 May 2012

One-pot Moroccan chicken

A North African chicken casserole that's low in fat, packed with veg and flavoured with harissa.  One post Moroccan chicken recipe sourced from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  • 4 skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion , finely sliced
  • 400g can cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp harissa paste (we used Belazu Rose Harissa)
  • 1 tbsp clear honey
  • 2 medium courgettes , thickly sliced
  • 400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
One-pot Moroccan chicken


Method
  1. Season the chicken breasts all over with the cumin and lots of ground black pepper. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the chicken with the onion for 4 mins. Turn the chicken over and cook for a further 3 mins. Stir the onions around the chicken regularly as they cook.
  2. Tip the tomatoes and 250ml water into the pan and stir in the harissa, honey, courgettes and chickpeas. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 mins until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly.


Harissa is a Tunisian chili paste and is commonly used in the Maghreb region to season stews and other dishes. Depending on the type of chili the paste can be very hot!  Reciope from Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients

1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp caraway seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
200g red chili peppers, roughly chopped
1 small red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 garlic bulb, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 a bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp salt
olive oil

Harissa
Method
Roast coriander, caraway, and cumin seed in a dry pan for about 2 minutes and ground in a pestle and mortar. (The smell of this will be incredibly fragrant!)
Put the ground spices, all the other ingredients, and about 2-3 tbsps of olive oil in a mixer or food processor. Blend until you get a thick paste. Fill into a sterilized jar and put a bit of olive oil on top to prevent drying-out. Keep in the fridge.

Note: You could also use dried chili peppers. Just let them soak in warm water for about 20-30 minutes and discard the water before blending.

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