Chicken tagine with preserved lemons
Word tagine, in Arabic طجين (tajin), denotes both clay pot and food. The tagine pots are made of clay, consisting of two-pieces, a bowl, and a conical top. Traditionally, the tagine is cooked over the charcoal without direct contact with flames. The temperature should be rather low than high. In most cases, the cooking of tagine takes hours and the food prepared in this pot is delicious and juicy. Tagine as a long-baked Arabian stew is already mentioned in the “Thousand and One Night Stories” in the IX century. It has been mentioned in the historical books of the Abbas Caliphate from 700 to 1200.
In my mind, the best of tagines is the simple lemon-chicken tagin, which is prepared with salted lemons and green olives, which gives for the tagin a characteristic flavor. If “tagine put” is not available, it is possible to prepare this food successfully in a thicker bottom saucepan or use cast-iron pot.
I prepared this tagine to honor of the special event of August 03 2018 in Haapsalu. Since the preparation of the food was a bit of “outdoor” and I didn’t have everything at hand, I made this tagine in a regular baking pot, and I salted the lemons quickly, but the result was a nice dinner on a warm August night.
Preparation time: 10-20 min preparation, 1.5-2 h cooking
Level: Not very complicated
Quantity: Four
Ingredients:
8-12 chicken legs or chicken thighs. Use or meat with bones giving a better taste to the food.
0.5 smaller lemons, lemons could not be salted weeks before, cut into lemons (better to use organic lemons) into sectors, put in jars, sprinkle with sea salt and put in the refrigerator. But if there is no time like this time, cover the lemon slices with the salt and keep until the other preparation is done.
1 jar of green olives (with or without stones)
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 cm piece of raw ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
0.25 teaspoon of saffron
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
3-4 tbs olive oil
Salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Chop garlic, onion and ginger finely, fry in olive oil until golden brown
2. Add spices, olives, and chicken
3. Add the chopped lemon and finely grated peel of about 0.25 lemon.
5. Stir in the component and leave the lid under low heat to simmer until the chicken is very soft, which takes at least 1.5 hours. There is no need to add water, but if the food becomes too dry, add a few spoons of water, but generally, there is enough liquid to have a good amount of the sauce.
Cut thin slices of lemon to garnish. In Morocco, this food is eaten without additives, but if desired, you can eat couscous or salad.
Ready!
