Chicken and apricot tagine
Chicken, dried apricots, onions and aromatic spices are slow-cooked in a tagine. The result is a fork-tender stew that makes for a comforting winter’s meal. Plus, this recipe is super rich in anti-inflammatory ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 t cinnamon
- 1 t ground ginger
- 1/2 t turmeric
- 1/2 t ground black pepper
- 1 t salt
- 3 T olive oil, divided
- 2.5 pounds boneless, chicken thighs (7–8 thighs)
- 1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2” wedges
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small handful cilantro
- 1 small handful parsley
- 8” kitchen string or small piece of cheese cloth
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 T honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup California apricots (you can be generous with the apricots. A few extra won’t hurt.)
- 1/3 cup whole blanched or slivered almonds
Instructions
- Mix spices and 2 T olive oil together in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss with your hands to thoroughly coat chicken in spice mixture.
- In a tagine or a skillet, add 1 T olive oil and brown chicken thighs skin-side down. Flip when golden brown, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken and allow to rest on a plate.
- Heat 1 T of olive oil in the tagine over medium to medium low heat and saute the onions for about 15 minutes until soft, stirring frequently. Add minced garlic and saute another 3 minutes or so.
- Tie 5 sprigs of both parsley and cilantro up in a bundle with kitchen string. Or alternatively, tie the herbs up with a bit of cheesecloth. Put the chicken into the tagine, skin side up along with and any juices that have collected in the plate. Add 1/2 cup of water and herb packet to the pot. Increase heat to medium until broth begins to simmer, turn down to low, cover tagine and simmer for 30 minutes.
- While chicken is cooking, put honey, cinnamon stick and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook gently until apricots are soft and the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce. Remove cinnamon stick.
- Open the tagine, stir the chicken to prevent burning and add the apricots and sauce to the chicken and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. When tagine is done the chicken should be fork-tender and the apricots, onions and juices should form a nice sauce.
- Remove the tagine from the stove, chop the remaining parsley and cilantro and sprinkle the chicken with the herbs and toasted almonds. Put the tagine on a trivet in the middle of the table and serve with couscous, quinoa, rice or a crusty bread.