Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.6kg), jointed into 8 pieces, skin on
• 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with 1 tsp salt
• 1 large pinch saffron threads (about 30 threads)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 60ml olive oil
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 preserved lemon
• 150g green olives, such as Picholine or Beldi, rinsed
• 1 small bunch coriander (about 25g)
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 25g)
• 300ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 lemon, for juice

Before you cook

• Joint the chicken into 8 pieces, or ask the butcher to do it, and pat every piece dry with kitchen paper.
• Crush the saffron threads between your fingers into a small bowl and cover with 3 tbsp warm water to steep.
• Quarter the preserved lemon, scrape the soft pulp away from the rind with a teaspoon, and keep pulp and rind separate. Slice the rind into thin strips.
• Tie the coriander and parsley into a single tight bundle with kitchen string.
• Slice the onions and crush the garlic with the salt.

Steps

1. Put the chicken pieces in a large bowl. Add the crushed garlic, ground ginger, turmeric, paprika, black pepper and the saffron with its soaking water. Rub everything into the meat with your hands until each piece is coated.
2. Leave the chicken to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so the spices sink in.
3. Set a tagine base or a wide heavy casserole over medium heat and add the olive oil and butter together.
4. Add the sliced onions and a good pinch of salt. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions have collapsed and turned pale gold.
5. Lay the chicken pieces on the onions skin side up, along with every scrap of marinade from the bowl. Tuck in the cinnamon stick and the herb bundle.
6. Pour in the water. It should come about a third of the way up the chicken, not cover it.
7. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cover with the tagine lid or a tight-fitting lid.
8. Cook gently for 45 minutes. Do not stir, but turn the breast pieces over once halfway through so they stay moist.
9. Lift the lid and check that the chicken is tender enough for the meat to pull away from the thigh bone. If it resists, cover and give it another 10 minutes.
10. Remove the herb bundle and cinnamon stick and discard them.
11. Stir the reserved preserved lemon pulp into the sauce. Scatter the strips of preserved lemon rind and the olives over the chicken.
12. Raise the heat to medium and cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, spooning the sauce over the chicken every few minutes, until the liquid has reduced to a thick, shiny sauce that clings to a spoon.
13. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, taste the sauce and add salt only if it needs it. The olives and preserved lemon carry most of the salt already.
14. Take the pan off the heat and rest the tagine for 5 minutes before serving with plenty of bread for the sauce.