As I've said many times, I love my spicy food and this Moroccan chicken with flavoursome couscous is out of this world! It's not a labour intensive meal to create and we eat this dish at least twice a month, even the kids love it!
Ingredients 8 chicken thighs, bone in 2 red onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, chopped 2 teaspoons paprika 2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon chilli powder 2 tablespoons olive oil Juice of 1 large lemon 1 440g can diced tomatoes 1 lemon sliced thinly Flat leaf parsley. chopped Salt and pepper
ORANGE & GINGER COUSCOUS Grated zest of 1 large orange plus the juice of two oranges 2 tsp dijon mustard (or just a powdered mustard) 2 tbs finely chopped ginger 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 1/3 cups instant couscous 1 cup chicken stock, heated 1 tbs lemon juice 1/4 cup toasted almond flakes 1/2 cup coriander, chopped 1/2 cup mint, chopped
Place the chicken thighs into a roasting dish and season with salt and pepper.
Put the garlic, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, thyme, turmeric, chilli powder, olive oil and lemon juice into a medium bowl and mix together to make a paste, if the marinade is too thick to be able to brush onto the chicken, thin with a little more lemon juice. Brush the marinade onto both sides of the chicken and make sure the thighs are well coated.
Cover the chicken thighs with the diced tomatoes and top each thigh with a slice of lemon. Refrigerate for at least four hours, remove from the fridge and cover with tin foil.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and place the chicken into the oven to bake. Keep an eye on the chicken and when it is almost done (about 20-30 minutes), remove the foil and continue to bake, this will give the chicken a nice browned colour on top. If the chicken starts to dry out, add a 1/2 cup of water and drizzle the chicken with a little (and I mean a little) olive oil.
When the chicken is cooked remove from the oven and serve with the Orange and Ginger Couscous.
COUSCOUS Bring orange juice to the boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium heat and simmer until it has reduced to about 1/3 cup and has gone syrupy.
Place orange zest, mustard, ginger, oil, cumin, the reduced juice (the orange juice you boiled), and 1 tsp salt in a large heatproof bowl and mix well. Stir in the couscous then pour over the hot stock. Stir and cover with plastic wrap and stand for 12 mins or until the stock is absorbed.
Fluff the couscous with a fork then mix in the lemon juice.
Just before serving, fold through the mint and coriander and voila!!