Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Preserved lemon, olives and slow steam. Morocco's famous chicken tagine with preserved lemons and green olives, the clay pot behind it, and a home recipe you can cook in a heavy pan.
Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives: Foodista, CC BY 2.0
A dish named after its pot
The word tagine means two things in Morocco: the shallow clay dish with a tall cone-shaped lid, and the stew that comes out of it. The cone is the clever part. Steam rises, cools against the walls of the lid and drips back down, so the meat braises in its own juices with very little added water.
Berber cooks of the Maghreb have made stews this way for centuries, and the pot suits a region where fuel and water were once precious. Over time, Arab, Andalusian and Ottoman influences added saffron, dried fruit and sweet spice blends, giving Moroccan tagines their layered, perfumed character.
Video: Moroccan Chicken Tagine | Food Wishes (Food Wishes), embedded from YouTube.
Lemons, olives and the spice drawer
Chicken with preserved lemon and green olives is the version most visitors fall for. Preserved lemons are whole lemons packed in salt and their own juice for several weeks until the rind turns soft, silky and intensely fragrant. Only the rind is usually used, chopped or sliced into the sauce at the end.
The spice base is gentle rather than fiery: ginger, turmeric, a pinch of saffron, black pepper and plenty of onion that melts into a golden sauce. Fresh cilantro and parsley go in near the end.
Ras el hanout, which means head of the shop, is a spice merchant's signature blend that can hold a dozen or more spices, and a spoonful is a common addition. Home cooks often marinate the chicken overnight so the spices sink in, and some brown the onions slowly first for a deeper, sweeter sauce.
Other tagines across Morocco
Lamb with prunes and toasted almonds is a celebration favorite, sweet and rich. Kefta tagine, spiced meatballs simmered in tomato sauce with eggs cracked on top, is everyday street food. Coastal towns make fish tagines with chermoula, a marinade of herbs, garlic, cumin and paprika, and vegetarian versions pile carrots, potatoes and peppers in a tall cone.
How to serve it
A tagine goes to the table in its own pot, set in the middle so everyone can share. Moroccans eat it with round loaves of bread, tearing off pieces to scoop up meat and sauce with the right hand. Couscous is a separate dish in Morocco, so if you want a grain, a simple bread is the more traditional partner. Finish with sweet mint tea.
Make Moroccan Chicken Tagine at home
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed (about 2.5 lb / 1.1 kg)
- 3 tbsp olive oil (45 ml)
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 generous pinch saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
- 1 cup chicken stock or water (240 ml)
- 1 preserved lemon, flesh discarded, rind thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup green olives (about 100 g), rinsed
- 1 small bunch each cilantro and parsley, chopped
- Salt to taste (go easy, the lemon and olives are salty)
- Crusty bread, to serve
Method
- Toss the chicken with the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, pepper and half the herbs. Rest 20 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oil in a tagine on a diffuser or in a heavy lidded pan over medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook 10 minutes until soft and golden.
- Nestle the chicken pieces into the onions, pour over the saffron water and the stock, and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 45 minutes, turning the chicken once, until it is very tender and cooked through to the bone (165 F / 74 C).
- Scatter the preserved lemon rind and olives over the top, cover again and cook 10 more minutes.
- If the sauce is thin, lift out the chicken and boil the sauce uncovered for a few minutes until it coats a spoon. Taste for salt.
- Return the chicken, sprinkle with the remaining herbs and serve from the pot with bread.
- Wikipedia: List of Moroccan dishes
- Chatelaine: Everything You Need To Know About Tagine
- Travel Exploration: Tajine
Facts on this page were checked against these sources.
- Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives: Foodista, CC BY 2.0
- Tagine and mint tea in Marrakech: calflier001, CC BY-SA 2.0
Text written by Intercontinental Chef.
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