Moroccan style grilled chicken with onion, chickpeas and apricot sauce served with couscous
Moroccan style grilled chicken with onion, chickpeas and apricot sauce served with couscous
The combination of the flavours in this recipe will blow your mind. The chermoula gives the chicken a superb taste that goes very well with the sweetness of the onions and apricot. And to finish I served my chicken on a bed of saffron couscous. Just yummy.
Ingredients
- 8 medium Chicken drumsticks or legs
- 1 medium Can of chickpeas
- 3 medium Onions
- 1 cup Diced apricots
- 400 g Couscous
- 1 medium Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Saffron
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 handful Fresh coriander
- 1 handful Fresh parsley
- 3 clove Garlic
- 1 tsp Ginger (powder)
- 1 tsp Harissa
- 1 tbs Tomato paste
- 1 tsp Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 3 tbs Olive oil
- 2 tbs Butter
- 1 tbs Honey
Instructions
- Wash your chicken with salt and vinegar, rinse it with fresh water, then dry it with paper towel.
- In a mortar or blender, add the garlic, the chopped parsley, coriander, salt, turmeric, pepper, lemon juice, ginger, harissa, tomato paste and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Blend and transfer to a bowl.
- Marinade your chicken with the chermoula mixture. Rub it well under the skin of the chicken as well. Better to let it marinade the whole night .
- Then bake it until it is golden brown in a preheated oven at 180C. First cover with foil or parchment paper for 45 minutes, then uncover for the last 15 minutes.
- For the sauce, slice your onions half moon shape, add to a large pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter. Let it cook on a medium low heat for 5 minutes.
- Add a bit of salt, 1 tbsp honey and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Stir and add the apricots.
- Cook for another 10 minutes then add the chickpeas. You can add 3 tbsp of water if needed but not too much. The onions, the apricots and chickpeas have to be jammy. So be patient and cook on a low heat.
- For the couscous, in an oven dish, add the couscous, the saffron and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Mix well then cover the couscous with boiling water. Sprinkle some salt and cover with foil for 5 minutes.
- Mix the couscous lightly with a fork, add 1 tbsp of butter. Cover again and stick the couscous tray in the oven for 15 minutes. Your couscous will be fluffy and yummy.
- Serve your chicken in a bed of couscous, onion, apricot and chickpeas sauce and enjoy. This dish goes very well with a full bodied red wine, or mint tea, if you are alcohol free.
