This way of cooking a chicken is based on a recipe from Ghillie Basan's book Flavours of Morocco and results in a tender moist bird that is packed with flavour. It is good hot or cold.
Ingredients
| 1 large | Onion, grated, save the juice |
| 6 cloves | Garlic, crushed |
| 50 g | Ginger, peeled and grated |
| 1 pinch | Saffron, soaked in ¼ cup hot water for 10 minutes |
| 1 large | Lemon, juiced |
| 3 Tbsp | Coriander, chopped stalks and leaves, plus extra for serving |
| 30 ml | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 | Chicken, size 14 free range (Main) |
| 1 ½ | Preserved lemons, peel only, thinly sliced (Main) |
| 100 g | Green olives (Main) |
| 1 Tbsp | Dried oregano, wild |
| 250 ml | Vegetable stock |
| 1 bowl | Long grain rice, steamed, for serving |
Directions
- Heat the oven to 200C.
- Put the onion and its juice, garlic, ginger, saffron and water, lemon juice, coriander and oil into a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Rub this mixture all over the chicken, inside and out and place the chicken in a deep ovenproof casserole. Pour in any extra of the onion mixture. Add the preserved lemon, olives, oregano and stock.
- Cover and place in the oven for 1½ hours or until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the chicken thighs is pierced with a skewer.
- Remove from the oven and lift the chicken onto a warm serving platter.
- Pour the sauce from the dish into a bowl and skim off some of the fat.
- Carve the chicken and serve it sprinkled with coriander on steamed rice.