Another month and another trip in our Around the World in 12 Dishes adventure. This month we were off to Morocco and making a Moroccan chicken and couscous stew. Last month, the girls and I had a great time exploring the culture and food of Brazil. The biscoitos de maizena we baked was a lovely, simple cookie. When we landed in Morocco I knew that spices would be key in whatever food we made. Adding the flavors of Morocco is a fun way to kick up your family's usual chicken recipes.
Since I do not own a tagine, a traditional Moroccan dutch oven like pot, we made a variation of a Moroccan chicken tagine.
Moroccan Chicken and Couscous
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
3 tablespoon cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
6 chicken thighs
4 minced cloves of garlic
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup chopped, dried apricots
1 cup raisins
3 shallots, sliced
1 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 cup couscous
1. Grind the fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, cumin, and cinnamon in a mortar and pestle.
2. Place spices into a resealable plastic bag for storage.
3. Add half the spices to minced garlic and olive oil. Mix until a paste forms. (keep the other half of the spices for future use)
4. Place chicken thighs in a shallow baking dish and rub with half the spice mixture...place in the fridge to marinade for at least 1 hour.
5. Add chopped apricots, raisins, shallots, almonds, turmeric, salt and pepper to the baking dish.
6. Pour enough chicken stock into the dish to come halfway up the baking dish.
7. Cover the baking dish tightly with either a lid or a piece of aluminum foil.
Place in a 300F oven for 1 hour.
8. Remove from oven and set aside.
9. For the couscous...Place 1 cup of dried couscous in a bowl. Pour 1 ½ cups boiling water over the couscous and immediately place a tight cover on the bowl. Let the couscous stand for 5 minutes.
10. Place couscous in a bowl and cover with chicken stew.
The girls loved helping with this dish. The smell of the spices cooking filled our kitchen beautifully. The girls remarked at the similarities between the spices used in this dish and those we used in our Indian spice paintings. Fortunately, everyone loved this meal. I cannot wait to use the second half of our spice rub on another chicken dish.
If you are looking for more information about the food and culture of Morocco, be sure to head over to National Geographic's website, where you will find plenty of information for kids. You can pick up these great books for children: "The Bachelor and the Bean: A Jewish Moroccan Folk Tale" by Shelley Followes or the beautifully illustrated "The Butter Man" by Elizabeth Lett and Ali Alalou.
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Becky says
Just looking at the ingredients was making my mouth water!!!!!! I can't wait to try this- thank you so much for posting!
Mud Hut Mama says
Yum! I'm getting hungry just reading this recipe!
Leanna @ Alldonemonkey says
This looks wonderful! I feel like I can smell the spices in your kitchen - it must be lovely! And I love that you adapted the recipe, I think most of us don't have a tagine 😉 Also really impressed that you actually ground up the spices. Thanks for sharing at the Culture Swapper!