Chicken Tagine Mchermel

🥘 Ingredients

• chicken (cut into pieces or thighs)
  1.5 kg
• cilantro
  a handful
• fresh lemon juice
  1 tbsp
• garlic
  2 cloves
• green olives
  a handful
• ground cumin
  1/2 tsp
• ground ginger
  1 tsp
• ground paprika
  2 tsp
• ground turmeric
  pinch
• olive oil (for marinade, for tagine)
  4 tbsp
• onion (large)
  2
• parsley
  a handful
• pepper
  1/4 tsp
• preserved lemon (large)
  1
• saffron
  a large pinch
• salt
  1 tsp, pinch
• warm water
  1 c

🍳 Cookware

• tagine

1. 1

   Soak saffron in warm water for ⏱️ 10 minutes to create saffron water.

   saffron: a large pinch, warm water: 1 c
2. 2

   Quarter preserved lemon . Separate the pulp from the skin. Finely chop the pulp and reserve the skin for later. Finely chop parsley and cilantro . Grate garlic .

   preserved lemon: 1 (large), parsley: a handful, cilantro: a handful, garlic: 2 cloves
3. 3

   In a large bowl, combine the chopped parsley, cilantro, chopped preserved lemon pulp, grated garlic, ground paprika , ground ginger , ground cumin , pepper , saffron water, and olive oil to make the charmoula.

   ground paprika: 2 tsp, ground ginger: 1 tsp, ground cumin: 1/2 tsp, pepper: 1/4 tsp, olive oil: 2 tbsp (for marinade)
4. 4

   Place chicken in the charmoula marinade and massage into the flesh. Cover and refrigerate for at least ⏱️ 60 minutes or overnight.

   chicken: 1.5 kg (cut into pieces or thighs)
5. 5

   Peel and grate onion . Finely chop the leftover onion pieces. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of the tagine . Cover with the grated onions. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and ground turmeric over the onions.

   onion: 2 (large), olive oil: 2 tbsp (for tagine), salt: pinch, ground turmeric: pinch
6. 6

   Add the chicken over the onion bed and cover with any leftover charmoula. When cooking in a traditional tagine over the stove, use a heat diffuser to avoid burning and cracking the bottom of the tagine. On low-medium heat, place the diffuser first, then the tagine on top of it. Cover and cook for around ⏱️ 15-20 minutes until the onions and chicken release their juices and the liquids start simmering.
7. 7

   Reduce the heat to low, cover the tagine, and cook until the chicken is tender, which can take ⏱️ 60 minutes or more. Add fresh lemon juice and green olives to the sauce. Top the chicken with the preserved lemon skins.

   fresh lemon juice: 1 tbsp, green olives: a handful
8. 8

   Taste your sauce and add salt if necessary. Do not cover the tagine, and continue cooking for another ⏱️ 15 minutes or so until the liquids have evaporated and the sauce has thickened.

   salt: 1 tsp
9. 9

   Serve immediately with crusty bread.