ChickenTagine

I've been wanting to make a Tagine, though I don't have the traditional pot, and I've never tasted the real thing, but I made one, freely borrowing from several recipes and altering as I went:

Ingredients are highlighted in blue, and then alternates are listed Start with eight chicken thighs and/or legs. Feel free to remove the skin, but leave the bone in- it'll give you a handle later on when you're gnawing off every last bit. You can do more, just proportionally increase everything below.

Quickly brown, a couple pieces at a time in a bit of olive oil- save that oil, the fry pot and any juices the chicken exude while they sit on a plate and wait their turn in the big pot. In that big pot, a heavy stock pot, gently saute in butter:
1- 1 1/2 cups mixed sweet onions and shallots.

when they're transparent, add
1/2 teas each tumeric, and paprika- and a sprinkle of asafoetida if you have it
3+ cloves garlic, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced

Let that all meld over low heat , stirring a couple minutes Now add the chicken, a bit of the the frying oil, some sea salt, and a cup of water- use some of this to deglaze the fry pan,

(how to degaze: after draining off any of the remaining oil, gently heat the fry pan, and then add some water to it, scraping and dissolving the nice brown chicken-y bits- for this recipe, you want a cup of water of so, so you can use some to deglaze, and just throw in the rest)
bring it all to a boil, then turn it down to a low simmer 30 minutes or so.

Now add a cinnamon stick- 2 inches or so you could also just toss in some ground)
a handful of cilantro- stems and all,
a tablespoon of apricot preserves, or orange marmalade, or a tablespoon of honey,
some sliced orange rind - an eight of an orange or so (include some of the white to get a little bitter flavor in there. You could use bitter orange marmalade for the preserves and the rind if you have any lying around- I didn't)
quarter cup golden raisins, chopped dried apricots, currants or any other dried what-have you.


Continue to simmer for another half hour or so, and when the chicken is near falling off the bone, remove it from the mix, and reduce the sauce till thick.
Toss in another good handful of minced cilantro leaves, more salt if needed, and serve along side rice with some toasted almonds, pine nuts or pistachios sprinkled on top.
Also a salad and a light sweet wine- reisling? or a spiced light beer- I had a white wheat beer- very nice. I might be able to live on this and its million variations for the rest of my life.
It really should be cooked in the traditional clay pot, and eaten hot from the pot.

You can add veg to the mix according to cook times, though if your vegetable falls apart, it'll just add to the sauce

I just realized I have been wanting to make this since I watched a film from 1965: "the Battle of Algiers"