Chicken Tagine with Dates

I had an abundance of dried dates leftover from baking some sticky date puddings. After an extensive amount of Pinterest-ing and Google-ing, I decided to give chicken tagine a go with a few modifications of my own based on what I had available in my pantry.

Yes, this blog tends to be leaning on the dessert side but I thought I’d branch out today.

I had this spice mix in the pantry but you can use any Moroccan spice mix you can get your hands on with this recipe.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Moroccan spice mix
6 chicken drumsticks
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 onions, diced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup dried dates
1/4 cup walnuts
Coriander to garnish

Method

1. Heat oil in frying pan.
2. Coat drumsticks in spice mix and fry for 1-2 minutes each side. Remove from pan.
3. Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add in chicken stock, tomatoes and drumsticks and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, or until drumsticks are cooked through. Season with sugar and salt to taste.
4. Add in chickepeas and dried dates and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat. Serve with chopped walnuts and coriander.
6. Serve with couscous or rice.

I really enjoyed making this – as I mentioned before, I usually expend my energies on dessert items so this is very different for me. Hope to pursue more savoury cooking soon.