Ihis colourful fruity chicken tagine is flavoured with fragrant orange and apricots. Serve with some spice cous cous or quinoa to add a depth of flavour. I also like it with roasted squash as a lower carb option although this keeps it sweet. I use a garlic and ginger paste now as I like the taste but if you don’t have it add 2 garlic cloves and a teaspoon of ginger, either ground or the chopped frozen ones that are so useful to have in the freezer.
Ingredients for chicken tagine
- 4 x chicken thigh fillets halved
- 2 onions sliced
- 1 large fennel bulb sliced without fronds and stalks
- 100g dried apricots
- 1 large orange zested then juiced
- 2 tablespoons garlic and ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 200ml chicken stock
- Olive oil for frying
Method
- Heat some oil in a casserole dish. When it is hot fry the chicken until golden brown on the outside. Take out of the pan and set aside. Turn the heat down and add the onions, cover and cook for 10 minutes or so until soft and translucent. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick
- Add the fennel, apricots, orange zest, garlic and ginger paste, turmeric coriander and cumin and fry gently for a couple of minutes stiffing until fragrant
- Add the chicken stock, orange juice and chicken. Bring to the boil then place in the oven for an hour or so at 160 centigrade. You can also leave it to cook on the hob but it needs babysitting if you do this where as in the oven you can let it cook. The chicken thighs can also be left to cook for a bit longer if you get distracted.
- Remove from the oven and serve with side dishes of your choice – spicy quinoa, cous cous or rice will work well with this dish.
If you liked this recipe you might like the spiced quinoa recipe linked here: