Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Ingredients
Salt and ground white pepper
-4 large whole leg portions of chicken (about 1 kg)
¼ tsp saffron threads, roughly crushed
900g tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger root
50g unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp groundnut oil
50g whole blanched almonds
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
How to make Moroccan Chicken with Honey
I have never tried Moroccan food and this seemed pretty easy for today. The cinnamon flavour makes it rather memorable.
Method:
step 1. Preheat the oven to 240ºC/ Gas 9. Season the chicken well and rub the saffron into the skin. Arrange it in a single layer in deep casserole. Add the tomatoes, onion, ginger and butter. Cover and cook in the oven for 10 minutes; reduce the heat to 180ºC/Gas 4 and cook for about 2 hours, testing for doneness after 1 hour.
step 2. Remove the chicken, transfer them to a clean casserole and set aside. Return the first casserole to a very high heat and boil the tomato mixture rapidly for about 10 minutes or until it has reduced to a syrupy consistency.
step 3. Remove the tomato sauce from the heat. Stir in the honey and cinnamon and season to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the casserole and simmer on top of the stove or put in a medium oven, for a few minutes. Just before serving, heat the groundnut oil in a small pan, sauté the almonds briefly then scatter the almonds and sesame seeds over the casserole.
