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Around the World in 12 Dishes – Moroccan Chicken Stew with Couscous

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moroccan chicken
Another month and another trip in our Around the World in 12 Dishes adventure. This month we were off to Morocco. Last month, the girls and I had a great time exploring the culture and food of Brazil. The biscoitos de maizena we baked were a lovely, simple cookie. When we landed in Morocco I knew that spices would be key in whatever food we made. 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
(adapted from Moroccan Chicken Tagine)

1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cardamom seeds
3 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
6 chicken thighs
4 minced cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped, dried apricots
1 cup raisins
3 shallots, sliced
1 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp 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, tumeric, salt and pepper to the baking dish.

6. Pour enough chicken stock into the dish to come half way up the baking dish.

7. Cover the baking dish tightly with either a lid or piece of aluminum foil.
Place in 300F oven for 1 hour.
8. Remove from oven and set aside.

9. For the couscous…Place 1 cup dried couscous in a bowl. Pour 1 1/2 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 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.

Now it’s time to see what everyone else has been baking and cooking. Please take some time to check out what all the Around the World in 12 Dishes co-hosts have discovered about Morocco.

If you are a blogger and you have a post related to Morocco, food or craft related, feel free to link up below. Stop by our Facebook page and share your stories there too! We love hearing from you!

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Comments

  1. 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!

  3. 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!