Organic Chicken Tagine with Moghrabieh and Minted Yoghurt - Chef Recipe by Ashraf Saleh

Ingredients

1kg organic chicken Maryland (4 pieces)
100g ghee
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
4 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Few threads of saffron
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 handful dried apricots
1/2 preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 handful pitted olives
1 bunch coriander
500mL water

Moghrabieh:

100g moghrabieh
Few saffron threads
50g ghee
1L water
Salt and pepper to taste

Minted yoghurt:

1 bunch mint
100g yoghurt
1 garlic clove, chopped

To serve:

Micro herbs for garnish
Halved cherry tomatoes

Method

Sear the chicken with the ghee in a heavy-based pan over medium heat, set aside.

Saute onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Add bay leaves, spices and 500mL of water, before adding chicken back in.

Cook in a tagine or covered casserole dish over a low heat for about 25 minutes. Add apricots and cook for a further 10 minutes.

When cooked, add preserved lemon, olives and coriander.

Place moghrabieh, 1L water, salt and saffron into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for 12 minutes. Strain and then saute with ghee.

Minted yoghurt:

Pick leaves from mint and chop. Add to a blender with yoghurt and chopped garlic. Add salt and puree until smooth.

To serve:

Place moghrabieh in a bowl, top with chicken tagine and vegetables. Add dollops of minted yoghurt and garnish with micro herbs and halved cherry tomatoes.

Credits: Coya – French, Middle Eastern Cuisine, New Holland Publishers RRP $39.99 available from all good book retailers or online www.newhollandpublishers.com