Terrible photo, but a delicious casserole made with the Chermoula spice blend I purchased from Gewurzhaus Herb & Spice Merchants a little while ago. They are an Australian company which freshly blends small batches of spices each week to ensure maximum quality and flavour, and they ship around the country. Bonus! Chermoula is a bit of a blanket term for a spicy marinade/spice rub originating from northern Africa. Like most recipes everyone has their own variation and you can definitely make your own, but sometimes it’s just easier to buy a delicious one for an hassle free and yum dinner.
Chicken thighs are the best to use for this recipe as you can’t really over cook them, the longer the better, and they are cheap too. You can also marinate the chicken in the chermoula with a bit of oil overnight for extra flavour and to make things even easier on cooking day. Come with me on a journey to Morocco and salivate over the spiciness from the chermoula, sweetness of the plump apricots combined with a sprinkling of crunchy slivered or sliced almonds, atop a bed of buttery couscous with a dollop of harissa… is your mouth watering yet?
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 3 tbs chermoula
- 2 brown onions, thinly sliced
- 400g can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (cube or liquid, whatever you have)
- 1 cup dried apricots
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled cut into 2cm chunks
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Sliced almonds, to serve
- Buttered couscous, to serve
- Harissa, to serve
- Steamed greens if you desire, to serve
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the chicken thighs, until nicely coloured. Remove and set aside.
- Add a bit more oil back into the pan and then cook the onions and chermoula for a few minutes until soft.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes or until chicken and sweet potato is cooked through. Serve me up!
