Spicy Chicken Tagine With Apricots, Rosemary, and Ginger
A tagine is a fragrant, succulent, slowly simmered North African stew that is named after the traditional clay pot it is cooked in.
You don’t need to have a tagine cooking pot to make a tagine, I personally use a Dutch oven or a regular pan to cook my tagine and then place the finished dish in my decorative tagine to serve.
There are many variations of tagines; classic combinations include lamb with dried apricots or prunes; chicken with preserved lemon and green olives; duck with dates and honey and fish cooked with tomatoes, lime, and cilantro.
This chicken tagine is both fruity, and spicy, as well as incredibly aromatic.
The chicken is gently simmered in a tomato- based sauce until tender. Chilies provide a bit of heat, while rosemary, ginger, and cinnamon add warmth and a beautiful fragrance. Dried apricots and honey provide a layer of sweetness to temper the heat of the chili.
Equipment
- Tagine or heavy based casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4-6 chicken thighs 1 thigh per person for large thighs, or 2 if smaller thighs
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 sprigs rosemary 1 finely chopped, and the other two cut in half
- 1½ inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped or grated
- 2 red chiles seeded, and finely chopped
- 1-2 cinnamon sticks
- 10-12 dried apricots
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 28 oz can plum tomatoes with their juice
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup roughly chopped basil, parsley, cilantro, or a mixture for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a tagine or a heavy based casserole dish over medium heat. Brown the chicken thighs on both sides, about 3-5 minutes a side. Remove the thighs from the pan and set aside. Leave 2-3 tablespoons of fat in the pan, removing and discarding any excess fat.
- Add the the onion, chopped rosemary, ginger and chiles to the pan and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the rosemary sprigs, cinnamon sticks, apricots and stir in the honey.
- Stir in the plum tomatoes and their juice. Nestle in the browned chicken thighs.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover, and gently simmer for 35-40 minutes.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with the fresh herbs and serve with couscous on the side.