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.
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Tagine Makfoul au Poulet (طاجين مكفول)
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Chicken tucked under careful rings of onion and tomato, cooked tight in the northern way until the vegetables melt into a cinnamon-scented sauce made for torn khobz and a full table.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•1 hr 55 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Everything here turns on the lid. Makfoul means closed, and in this northern tagine the chicken waits underneath while onions and tomatoes are laid over it in rings, neat as a roof. You don't stir. You let the vegetables collapse slowly and baste the meat from above, because their own juices are the sauce.
Keep the heat low enough that the pot murmurs, not spits. Cinnamon gives a warm breath, saffron colors the chicken and the onion, and a little ginger and pepper keep the sweetness from becoming heavy. When the tomatoes have slumped and the oil shines at the edge, you open the tagine and know you've held your hand steady.
This is la cuisine du lien, the cooking of connection, ordinary enough for Sunday and generous enough when someone knocks. Put the tagine in the middle, tear the khobz, and make room. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open.
Tagine makfoul is associated with northern Moroccan kitchens, especially Tetouan and the Tangier-Tetouan corridor, where Andalusi city cooking met Mediterranean trade after the 1492 expulsions from Iberia. Its tomato layer cannot be medieval in the strict sense, because tomatoes reached Moroccan cooking after the Columbian exchange and became common much later, so the dish as cooked today likely took shape between the 18th and 19th centuries. The word makfoul means closed or locked in Arabic, a practical name for the covered method: meat below, onion and tomato above, no stirring until the sauce has formed.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
Quantity
1.4 kg
skin removed if you like
yellow onions
Quantity
3 large
1 grated and 2 sliced into thin rounds
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
4
peeled if skins are thick, sliced into rounds
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
grated
flat-leaf parsley and fresh coriander
Quantity
1 small bunch
finely chopped, plus a spoonful for serving
saffron threads
Quantity
1 pinch
bloomed in 2 tbsp warm water
ground ginger
Quantity
1 tsp
ground turmeric
Quantity
1/2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 tsp
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1 small
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1/4 tsp
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
olive oil
Quantity
4 tbsp
smen or butter (optional)
Quantity
1 tsp
water
Quantity
60 to 80ml
only as needed
preserved lemon (optional)
Quantity
1/4 lemon
rinsed and slivered, optional for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticksskin removed if you like | 1.4 kg |
| yellow onions1 grated and 2 sliced into thin rounds | 3 large |
| ripe tomatoespeeled if skins are thick, sliced into rounds | 4 |
| garlic clovesgrated | 3 |
| flat-leaf parsley and fresh corianderfinely chopped, plus a spoonful for serving | 1 small bunch |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 2 tbsp warm water | 1 pinch |
| ground ginger | 1 tsp |
| ground turmeric | 1/2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
| cinnamon stick | 1 small |
| ground cinnamon | 1/4 tsp |
| sea salt | 1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste |
| olive oil | 4 tbsp |
| smen or butter (optional) | 1 tsp |
| wateronly as needed | 60 to 80ml |
| preserved lemon (optional)rinsed and slivered, optional for serving | 1/4 lemon |
Equipment Needed
- •30 cm heavy clay tagine with heat diffuser
- •Wide Dutch oven or heavy shallow braising pot with tight lid
- •Small bowl for blooming saffron
Instructions
- 1
Bloom and rub
Put the saffron threads in the warm water for 10 minutes, until the water turns gold. In a wide bowl, mix the grated onion, garlic, herbs, saffron water, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, salt, olive oil, and smen if using. Rub this into the chicken with your hands, working it into the joints. The grated onion is not decoration; it melts into the first sauce and seasons the chicken all the way to the bone.
Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes if you can. Overnight in the fridge gives the spices more time, but bring the chicken out before cooking so the pot doesn't start cold. - 2
Lay the roof
Spread a few onion rings across the base of a heavy tagine or shallow braising pot. Arrange the chicken snugly over them and scrape in every bit of marinade. Cover the chicken with the remaining onion rings, then lay the tomato rounds over the top in circles. Sprinkle the tomato layer with the ground cinnamon and a small pinch of salt, tuck the cinnamon stick at the side, and pour a little water around the edge of the pot, not over the top.
- 3
Close the tagine
Set the tagine over a diffuser on medium-low heat, or use a Dutch oven over low heat. Once you hear a quiet bubble, lower the heat and cover tightly. Cook for about 45 minutes without stirring. The closed lid is the point: it keeps the onion and tomato juices falling back over the chicken, and stirring breaks the roof before it has done its work.
Peek quickly after 25 minutes only to make sure the bottom is not catching. If the pot smells dry or sharp, add 2 tbsp water at the edge and close it again. - 4
Finish the sauce
After 45 minutes, the onions should be soft and the tomatoes slumped into the sauce. Check the chicken: it should pull easily near the bone and read 74°C / 165°F at the thickest part. Spoon sauce over the top without breaking the pattern. If the sauce is thin, cook 10 to 15 minutes with the lid slightly open, until the oil shines at the edge and a spoon leaves a glossy track. If using preserved lemon, tuck the slivers at the edge for the last 5 minutes.
- 5
Serve from pot
Rest the tagine for 5 minutes, then scatter over the reserved parsley and coriander. Bring the pot to the table and serve from the center, lifting the chicken from underneath its onion and tomato cover. Eat it with torn khobz, because the sauce is half the meal.
Chef Tips
- •Tomatoes carry this dish, so cook it when they have weight and smell of vines. In winter, use good drained whole tomatoes or choose another tagine. The market always has an answer.
- •This isn't a ras el hanout tagine in the northern households I know. Keep the spice grammar clean: saffron, ginger, pepper, cinnamon. When a dish does ask for ras el hanout, buy it from someone who'll tell you what's in it. Avec le ras el hanout, on ne triche pas.
- •Use real saffron threads and bloom them. The powdered yellow gives color, not depth, and with a closed tagine there is nowhere for a false spice to hide.
- •La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes. The cinnamon should warm the tomato and onion, not turn the sauce sweet like pastry.
- •If you put lemon on the table, make it preserved lemon, not fresh. Fresh lemon cuts sharply through the soft onion-tomato sauce; preserved lemon sits inside the Moroccan grammar.
- •Don't flatten this into one idea of Moroccan chicken tagine. Il n'y a pas une cuisine marocaine, mais des cuisines marocaines, not one Moroccan cuisine, but many, and this one belongs to the northern family.
Advance Preparation
- •Rub the chicken with the spice mixture up to 12 hours ahead and refrigerate it covered.
- •Slice the onions and tomatoes up to 2 hours ahead, keeping them separate so the tomato doesn't water down the onion.
- •The cooked tagine keeps for 2 days. Rewarm it gently with a spoonful of water, knowing the onion and tomato pattern will relax after chilling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
160 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
14 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
38 g
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