Masterchef
Marrakesh proves magical for MasterChef winner Diana Chan as she discovers the romance of the old city and the joys of cooking in a tagine.
Diana Chan’s tasty take on cooking with tagines.
ON A RECENT holiday, I travelled to Marrakesh in Morocco, a place I’d always wanted to visit. I’ll admit I had a certain perception of Marrakesh – that it might have lost its old city charm. But as I made my way to my riad, a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an internal garden, in the old medina, my fears were allayed. Outside the four walls of the medina were massive resorts and paved roads; inside were narrow cobblestoned streets on which cars and motorbikes zoomed past. It was organised chaos, and I found it exhilarating.
The old medina is filled with dark alleyways leading to more dark alleyways, all filled with shops selling everything from spices to handcrafted items to teapots to tagines to leather goods. Among the food stalls and restaurants in the medina’s main square were snake charmers, fortune tellers and lots of locals trying to make a quick buck selling random items. I tried all the local cuisine and fell in love with tagines. I loved their simplicity and how little prep and cleaning they required – perfect for busy parents wanting to feed the whole family. The only thing that disappointed me was that they didn’t use many greens to freshen up the dishes. So in this recipe, I’ve added some fresh herbs at the end, plus pomegranate seeds to give a pop of colour. I hope you enjoy digging into this as much as I did.
CHICKEN & LEMON TAGINE WITH POMEGRANATE COUSCOUS SERVES 4
1/4 cup (20g) each sweet paprika and ground coriander 1 tbs ground turmeric 1 tsp each garlic powder, ground ginger
and ground cinnamon 1 pinch saffron threads 650g chicken thigh fillets 2 tomatoes, chopped 1 onion, thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tbs finely grated ginger 1/4 cup (90g) preserved lemon, finely chopped 1 cup (120g) green Sicilian olives 4 cups (1L) chicken stock 200g pearl couscous Seeds from 1 pomegranate 1/2 cup (70g) slivered almonds, toasted 1/2 cup (70g) semi-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, finely chopped 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, finely chopped, plus extra sprigs to serve Coriander leaves and Greek yoghurt,
to serve
To make spice mix, combine spices in an airtight container.
Place saffron and 2 tbs water in a bowl and stand to infuse.
Toss chicken and 1/4 cup (20g) spice mix in a bowl and stand for 30 minutes to marinate (remaining spice can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 months). Preheat the oven to 180°C. Toss tomato, onion, garlic and ginger in a tagine or ovenproof saucepan with a fitted lid. Top with chicken, scatter with lemon, olives, 2 cups (500ml) stock and saffron mixture. Cover and cook for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, boil couscous in remaining 2 cups (500ml) stock for 8 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Stir through pomegranate, almonds, semi-dried tomato and parsley. Scatter tagine with coriander and serve with couscous and yoghurt.