Sunday 4 August 2013

Chermoula Chicken on Cous Cous

Here it is, my first Moroccan/North African recipe. This recipe has two steps, first the wet spice mix (Chermoula) and then the chicken and cous cous. I found it better to make the spice mix a couple hours before you cook with it, this will allow the mixture to settle and the flavours to blend together.

Chermoula can either be mild or hot. You can add more chilli to this recipe to make it more hot. It goes well with seafood and poultry. Chermoula can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 months. All you have to do is add more olive oil to the top of it when you take some Chermoula out. 


What you need:
Chermoula -
2 tbs cumin seeds, lightly roasted
1 tbs coriander seeds, lightly roasted
1 1/2 tbs sweet paprika
1 tbs ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2-4 whole small red chillies, seeded, scraped and roughly chopped
juice of 2 lemons
100ml olive oil
1/2 tps sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1kg Chicken thighs
500ml chicken stock

250ml water
250g cous cous

How to:
Chermoula - 
1) Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the garlic and chillies are ground to a paste. Pour into a clean jar and cover with olive oil. 

Chicken and Cous Cous -
1) Put the chicken and chicken stock in a baking dish and put in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and add the chermoula spice mix on top of the chicken. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

2) Boil water in a pot and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Add the cous cous and cover for 2-3 minutes. Fluff up with a fork. 

3) Put the cous cous on a large dish topped with the cooked chermoula chicken. Pour the remaining stock/sauce from the bottom of the baking dish over the chicken and cous cous.




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