Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry 5–7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 4
   Add the chicken pieces and fry about 5 minutes, until browned on all sides.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
2. 5
   Add the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, salt and black pepper and stir.
3. 6
   Add the preserved lemon, olives and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
4. 7
   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 45–50 minutes, until the chicken is very tender.

   ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
5. 8
   Add the parsley and cilantro and cook another a few minutes.

   Stove
6. 9
   Serve the stew with couscous.