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moroccan chicken

Moroccan Chicken Tagine (Slow Cooker or Stovetop)

This simple and tasty Moroccan Chicken Tagine is richly flavoured with moroccan spices, honey and dates and unbelievably fork tender. Whilst traditionally cooked in a Tagine vessel, this method uses your slow cooker or stovetop instead. Served with a fluffy couscous on the side this dish will whisk you away to Morocco.
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Prep Time:30 minutes
Cook Time:5 hours
Total Time:5 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Middle Eastern, Moroccan
Keyword: Best chicken, Slow Cooked, Slow Cooker, Tagine
Servings: 4 - 6 people

Equipment

  • 5.5 Litre Slow Cooker (could use slightly smaller) OR
  • Large flameproof casserole dish / Dutch oven

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 8 chicken thigh cutlets, trimmed of excess fat (See Note 2)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 20g butter
  • 1 brown onion, sliced
  • 3 carrots, cut into 2cm thick slices
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cinnamon quill
  • ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 ¼ cups chicken stock (See Note 3 - 2 cups if stove top)
  • 8 fresh Medjool dates, halved and de-stoned
  • ¼ cup honey

TO SERVE

  • Toasted flaked almonds
  • Coriander sprigs
  • Sliced red chilli
  • Flatbread (Optional)

Instructions

TAGINE

  • Place seasoned flour into a freezer bag and add the chicken pieces. Shake well to coat. Remove chicken, shaking off any excess flour.
  • Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, for 4-6 minutes, turning on all sides, until well browned. Transfer chicken to the base of 5.5 litre slow cooker. (SEE BELOW NOTES FOR STOVE TOP METHOD)
  • Add the butte to the pan. Add the onions and carrots and stir, cooking till lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in all the spices, cooking for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
  • Add the chicken stock and orange juice to the pan and bring gently to the boil, scraping any brown bits off the base of the pan. Carefully pour the mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker. Stir to combine, then cover with the lid and cook on LOW for 5 hours.
  • Add the honey and dates to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Increase heat to HIGH and cook, without the lid, for a further 1 hour or until the dates are tender, chicken is cooked and the sauce has reduced slightly, stirring gently from time to time. Serve with couscous and garnish with toasted flaked almonds, coriander and sliced red chilli if desired.

Notes

  1. COOKS NOTES:
    Oven Temps:     Oven temperatures are for conventional, if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C.
    Measurements: We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml, 1 tablespoon = 20 ml & 1 cup =  250 ml.
    Herbs: All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed.
    Vegetables: All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified.
    Eggs: We use extra-large size and eggs are 55-60 g each, unless specified.
  2. CHICKEN
    You can use other cuts of chicken. You could use drumsticks, wings, maryland or lovely legs. I just wouldn't use breast though as they will dry out too much. If using wings, reduce the cooking time to around 3-4 hours. You can also remove all the skin from the thigh cutlets if desired.
  3. STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS
    To cook on the stove top in a Dutch oven or heatproof casserole dish is simple. Brown chicken as above. Remove and set aside. Follow on with steps 2 and 3 but increase the chicken stock by 3/4 cup (so 2 cups stock all up). Once liquid is bubbling away, return chicken to pan, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove lid, add honey and dates and simmer, without the lid, for a further 20-30 minutes or until the mixture has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce does not catch on the base. Add a little extra stock or water if required.