The mouth-watering tastes of the Middle Eastern dishes are enjoyed on dinner tables around the world, including Australia where Chefs like Ashraf Saleh put a new spin on a cuisine inspired by the rich diversity of flavours and produce found in his homeland.
The brainchild behind Chef-hatted restaurant Coya on Carawa Road in Cromer, Ashraf grew up in the Middle East beginning his career in the kitchen during the late 1970s and travelling the world gastronomically before arriving on our shores.
He shares his recipe for organic chicken tagine with mograbieh and minted yoghurt - a tagine is a cone-shaped earthenware cooking pot traditionally used in Morocco. Dishes cooked in a tagine are generally layered with meat, vegetable, aromatics and spices; as they cook a stew-like consistency develops making a rich, flavourful sauce.
Mograbieh is sometimes referred to as giant, or pearl couscous and is a form of rolled semolina. In this dish it provides the base for a vibrant and colourful meal of chicken Maryland pieces, flavoured with saffron, apricots, spices and vegetables; while a dollop of minted yoghurt adds a hit of smoothness.
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