Chef Zohra
Poulet M'hammer aux Amandes (دجاج محمر)
A celebration chicken simmered low in saffron onion sauce, browned until golden, then carried to the table with fried almonds scattered over the top.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Tagine de Poulet au Citron Confit et Olives
Created by
Chicken braised the Fassi mqalli way, saffron and ginger tucked into melted onion, then sharpened at the end with preserved lemon and green olives so the sauce wakes up.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Weeknight
Comfort Food
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 25 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
The preserved lemon waits until the sauce is almost ready. That matters. Add it too early and its salt and bitterness take command; add it at the end and it opens the whole pot, sharp, floral, clean, against the saffron-yellow chicken and the green olives.
People flatten Moroccan food to chicken tagine with lemon, and then they miss the work inside the cliché. This is mqalli, the Fassi way of letting grated onion, saffron, ginger, smen, and the chicken juices become deghmira, a thick onion sauce that clings to the spoon. The dish isn't built on spectacle. It's built on patience, and on ingredients that are honest: real saffron threads bloomed in warm water, preserved lemon, olives with flavor in them.
Cook it for a weeknight if you want, because a good dish doesn't need ceremony to deserve care. Serve it from the tagine or a shared platter with round khobz to chase the sauce, and make one piece more than you think you need. This is la cuisine du lien (the cooking of connection): one pot, one platter, one more place made at the table.
Tagine de poulet au citron confit et olives belongs especially to the Fassi urban repertoire, a mqalli family of braises associated with Fez, a Marinid capital from the 13th century and later a city shaped by Andalusi and Jewish-Moroccan households. The dish draws on older Moroccan preserving habits: salted lemons from the citrus belt and olives from northern and central groves made brightness possible outside the fresh season. Its exact first appearance is not pinned to a manuscript; like many household dishes, it traveled through hands before it traveled through books.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken or bone-in thighs and drumsticks
Quantity
1.5 kg whole chicken or 1.4 kg pieces
cut into serving pieces
yellow onions
Quantity
3 large
grated on the large holes
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
grated
olive oil
Quantity
3 tbsp
smen or unsalted butter (optional)
Quantity
1 tsp smen or 1 tbsp butter
saffron threads
Quantity
1 generous pinch
bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water
ground ginger
Quantity
2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 tsp
ground turmeric (optional)
Quantity
1/2 tsp
for deeper color
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 tsp, then more only after tasting
fresh coriander (cilantro)
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped, with a few leaves kept for serving
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped
water
Quantity
250 ml, plus a splash more if needed
preserved lemons
Quantity
2 small
pulp separated, seeds discarded, peel cut into strips
cracked green olives
Quantity
180 g
rinsed if very salty
preserved lemon brine (optional)
Quantity
1 tbsp
for final seasoning
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chicken or bone-in thighs and drumstickscut into serving pieces | 1.5 kg whole chicken or 1.4 kg pieces |
| yellow onionsgrated on the large holes | 3 large |
| garlic clovesgrated | 4 |
| olive oil | 3 tbsp |
| smen or unsalted butter (optional) | 1 tsp smen or 1 tbsp butter |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp warm water | 1 generous pinch |
| ground ginger | 2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 tsp |
| ground turmeric (optional)for deeper color | 1/2 tsp |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 tsp, then more only after tasting |
| fresh coriander (cilantro)chopped, with a few leaves kept for serving | 1 small bunch |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1 small bunch |
| water | 250 ml, plus a splash more if needed |
| preserved lemonspulp separated, seeds discarded, peel cut into strips | 2 small |
| cracked green olivesrinsed if very salty | 180 g |
| preserved lemon brine (optional)for final seasoning | 1 tbsp |
Equipment Needed
- •30 cm heavy clay tagine with heat diffuser, or wide heavy braising pot with tight lid
- •Fine grater for onions
- •Small mortar or cup for blooming saffron
Instructions
- 1
Bloom the saffron
Crumble the saffron threads into 3 tablespoons of warm water and leave them until the water turns amber. Pull the preserved lemon pulp from the peel, discard the seeds, chop 1 teaspoon of the pulp, and cut the peel into thin strips. Taste an olive; if it bites too hard with salt, rinse it or blanch it for 1 minute, then drain.
Use saffron threads, not the powdered yellow. The water should smell floral and warm after blooming. - 2
Season the chicken
Put the chicken in a wide bowl with the garlic, ginger, black pepper, turmeric if using, salt, chopped preserved lemon pulp, half the coriander, half the parsley, the saffron water, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Rub everything in with your hands so the spice reaches the joints and the skin. Let it sit 30 minutes if you have the time; overnight in the refrigerator is kinder to the meat.
If your preserved lemons are very salty, use only the peel and leave the pulp out of the seasoning. - 3
Build the deghmira
Set a heavy tagine with a diffuser, or a wide braising pot, over medium-low heat. Add the remaining olive oil and the smen or butter if using, then add the grated onions and cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until they turn glossy, wet, and soft. Add the chicken with all its seasoning and turn the pieces through the onions. Cook uncovered for 8 minutes, just until the chicken tightens and the spices lose their raw smell.
A clay tagine wants low, steady heat and a diffuser. Sudden heat cracks clay and rushes the sauce. - 4
Braise it gently
Pour the water around the chicken, not straight over the top, and tuck in the remaining coriander and parsley. Cover and lower the heat so the pot murmurs quietly. Cook 45 to 55 minutes, turning the pieces once or twice, until the chicken is tender at the bone and reaches 74°C or 165°F if you check with a thermometer. If the pot looks dry before the chicken is done, add a small splash of water.
- 5
Reduce the sauce
Lift the chicken to a warm plate if the sauce is still loose. Simmer the deghmira uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the onions nearly disappear into a glossy saffron sauce and a spoon dragged through it leaves a path for a second. This is the deciding gesture: if the deghmira stays watery, the preserved lemon and olives sit on top instead of becoming part of the dish.
In many Moroccan homes, the braised chicken is browned briefly in a hot oven while the sauce reduces. Brush it with a little sauce first and keep it brief; the meat is already cooked. - 6
Add lemon olives
Return the chicken to the pot if you lifted it out. Add the preserved lemon strips and the olives, spoon the deghmira over everything, and simmer uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes. The lemon goes in late so its perfume stays clear and its bitterness doesn't take over; the olives only need to warm and season the sauce.
- 7
Serve and share
Taste the sauce. Add preserved lemon brine only if it asks for a sharper edge, and add salt only after the olives have spoken. Scatter the reserved coriander leaves over the top. Serve from the tagine or a shared platter with warm round khobz, not over rice; bread is how the deghmira reaches everyone.
Chef Tips
- •Sourcing comes before technique. Buy preserved lemons whose peel is soft and fragrant, not harsh with vinegar; this dish asks for preserved lemon, not fresh lemon.
- •Ras el hanout is not for this pot. With ras el hanout, you don't cheat, and you also don't put it in every Moroccan dish; this one speaks saffron, ginger, onion, lemon, and olives.
- •Salt softly at the start. Olives, preserved lemon, and smen all bring salt, and you correct at the end.
- •If the onions start to catch before they melt, add a spoon of water and lower the heat. La balance est dans les yeux (the scale is in the eyes).
- •Il n'y a pas une cuisine marocaine, mais des cuisines marocaines (not one Moroccan cuisine, but many). Some Fassi cooks brown the chicken after braising; some keep it soft in the sauce. Both belong to the household line.
Advance Preparation
- •Season the chicken up to 24 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Bring it close to room temperature before cooking.
- •Rinse or blanch the olives a day ahead if they are very salty, then refrigerate them in a covered bowl.
- •You can cook the chicken and deghmira a day ahead, then reheat gently and add the preserved lemon peel and olives for the last 10 minutes.
- •If making preserved lemons at home, give them at least 3 weeks to cure until the peel softens all the way through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 330g)
Calories
640 calories
Total Fat
47 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
35 g
Cholesterol
160 mg
Sodium
1520 mg
Total Carbohydrates
14 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
41 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Tagines of Poultry, Lamb & Vegetables
Browse the full collection
Chef Zohra
Tagine Amazigh aux Légumes
An Amazigh tagine from the Atlas spirit: seasonal vegetables stood upright over onion and tomato, cooked tight under the lid until their own juices make the sauce.
Chef Zohra
Tagine Braniya (طاجين برانية)
An eastern Moroccan tagine where lamb or beef braises with chickpeas until tender, then eggplant cooks past soft into saffron-gold silk. Bring khobz, because the sauce asks for hands.
Chef Zohra
Tagine de Cœurs d'Artichaut et Petits Pois
The spring tagine Morocco waits for: artichoke hearts and fresh peas braised just until tender, with preserved lemon, ginger, saffron, olives, and herbs keeping the sauce bright.