Tagine de Poulet aux Abricots et Pruneaux

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy clay tagine, 30 to 34 cm, or a wide heavy braising pot
• •Small pan for glazing the dried fruit
• •Wide serving platter if not serving from the tagine

Instructions

1. 1

   Bloom the saffron

   Crumble the saffron threads between your fingers into a small cup, pour over 3 tablespoons warm water, and let it stand while you prepare the chicken. The water should turn deep gold and smell floral. Powdered yellow spice will color the pot, but it won't give the perfume this dish needs.

2. 2

   Season the chicken

   Put the chicken in a wide bowl with the onions, garlic, olive oil, smen, ginger, ras el hanout, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon stick, salt, and bloomed saffron. Turn everything with your hands until the meat is well coated and the onions have begun to release their juice.

   If you have 30 minutes, let the chicken rest in the seasoning. If guests are already close, cook on. The pot will still be generous.
3. 3

   Start the braise

   Set a heavy tagine base or wide braising pot over medium heat. Add the chicken with all its onion and spice mixture, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the pieces so the onion softens and the spices wake up without browning hard. Add 250ml water or light stock, cover, lower the heat, and let it murmur gently.

4. 4

   Soften the chicken

   Braise for 45 to 55 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice, until the meat is tender when pierced and the onions have melted into the sauce. Keep the flame low. A tagine asks for patience, not force. If the pot looks dry before the chicken is tender, add a splash of water around the edge.

5. 5

   Glaze the fruit

   While the chicken cooks, put the apricots and prunes in a small pan with a ladle of the tagine sauce, the honey, orange blossom water, and ground cinnamon. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, until the fruit is plump and shiny but still whole. This late glazing matters: the fruit gives sweetness to the sauce without collapsing into jam.

6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Lift the lid from the chicken and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats a spoon. Taste now. The scale is in the eyes, la balance est dans les yeux, but also in the tongue: add a pinch of salt if the sweetness stands alone, or a spoon of water if the sauce has tightened too much.

7. 7

   Serve together

   Spoon the apricots and prunes over and around the chicken, then scatter with toasted almonds and sesame seeds if using. Bring the tagine to the table with khobz for scooping. If you serve couscous with it, steam the grain in passes over broth, never boil it, or you make porridge instead of couscous.

Chef Tips

• •Buy ras el hanout from someone who'll tell you what is in it, and smell it before you buy. A tired pre-ground tin gives you dust where there should be alchemy.
• •Use dried fruit that is supple, not leathery. No gesture rescues a sad apricot. If the fruit is very dry, soak it in warm water for 10 minutes and drain before glazing.
• •This is not the preserved-lemon chicken with olives. For that dish, use preserved lemon, not fresh. Here, the brightness comes from saffron, orange blossom water, and the quiet acidity of good dried fruit.
• •Toast the almonds just before serving if you can. They should smell warm and nutty, with pale gold edges, not dark and bitter.
• •For a dinner party, cook the chicken earlier in the day and glaze the fruit near serving. The sauce deepens as it rests.

Advance Preparation

• •Season the chicken up to 12 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Bring it close to room temperature before cooking so the braise starts evenly.
• •The tagine can be cooked one day ahead without the almonds. Rewarm gently with a splash of water, then add the toasted almonds at the table.
• •Toast the sesame seeds and almonds up to 2 days ahead and keep them in a closed jar once fully cool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)