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Halal-conscious recipe

Moroccan chicken with fennel and olives

Sara Buenfeld's Moroccan chicken tagine for two with Halal chicken: thigh fillets simmered with fennel, ginger, warm spices, lemon rind and vegetable stock, finished with tomatoes and olives and served with chickpea couscous.

  • Cuisine Moroccan
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 2 plates
  • Time 55 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Green beans, carrots and potatoes layered in a metal tagine base, ready to cook
Photograph from our ingredient library: vegetables layered in a tagine before cooking, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: Ridouan Red · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why Halal checks matter here

The tagine is 4 skinless chicken thigh fillets, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds; the stock is already vegetable.

Skinless chicken thigh fillets are browned with softened onion, fennel, ginger and garlic, then simmered with chopped lemon rind, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander and vegetable stock, and finished with tomato wedges, olives, coriander and lemon juice. It is served with wholewheat couscous stirred through with chickpeas. The source tags it Moroccan and calls it a chicken tagine. The chicken needs a Halal source; the stock is already vegetable.

It follows Sara Buenfeld's Moroccan chicken with fennel and olives for BBC Good Food, which serves two. Keep the fennel fronds when you slice the bulb: they go on at the end.

Serve with the chickpea couscous, extra coriander and the fennel fronds.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Chicken thigh fillets Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.

Safe substitutes

  • Chicken thigh fillets of unknown slaughter → 4 Halal skinless chicken thigh fillets

Allergens

gluten (couscous)

Ingredients

Tagine

  • ½ lemon
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced, fronds reserved
  • thumb-sized piece ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
  • 4 Halal skinless chicken thigh fillets, halved and trimmed
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 400 ml hot vegetable stock (made with 2 tsp bouillon powder)
  • 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 6 Kalamata or green olives, pitted and halved
  • generous handful coriander, chopped, plus extra to serve

Couscous

  • 70 g wholewheat couscous
  • 400 g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Method

  1. Prepare the lemon. Squeeze the lemon over a bowl and set the juice aside. Cut the squeezed lemon in two, remove the pith from one half and chop the rind.
  2. Fry the vegetables and chicken. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the onion, fennel, ginger and garlic until soft. Add the chicken and fry for a few minutes more until just browned.
  3. Simmer. Add the lemon rind and spices, then pour in the stock. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, then add the tomatoes, olives, coriander and half the lemon juice and cook for 5 minutes more until the fennel and chicken are tender and the sauce has reduced.
  4. Make the couscous and serve. Meanwhile, cook the couscous following the pack instructions and stir in the chickpeas. Add more lemon juice to taste, then serve the tagine with the couscous, extra coriander and the fennel fronds.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan chicken with fennel & olives' by Sara Buenfeld, tagged Moroccan (serves 2: half a lemon squeezed into a bowl, the pith removed from one of its two pieces and the rind chopped; 1 large finely chopped onion, a fennel bulb halved and thinly sliced (fronds kept), a thumb-sized piece of chopped ginger and 2 chopped large garlic cloves fried soft in 1 tbsp rapeseed oil; 4 skinless chicken thigh fillets, halved and trimmed, fried a few minutes until just browned; the lemon rind, ½ tsp each ground cinnamon and turmeric and 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander added with 400 ml hot vegetable stock made with 2 tsp bouillon powder, covered and simmered 25 minutes; 2 tomatoes in wedges, 6 pitted and halved Kalamata or green olives, a generous handful of chopped coriander and half the lemon juice cooked 5 minutes more; 70 g wholewheat couscous cooked to the pack instructions with a drained 400 g can of chickpeas stirred in; more lemon juice to taste, extra coriander and the fennel fronds). We specified Halal chicken; the vegetable stock needs no change. Nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Moroccan chicken with fennel & olives — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Sara Buenfeld, tagged Moroccan and described as a chicken tagine. Serves 2, prep 10 minutes, cook 45 minutes: onion, fennel, ginger and garlic fried soft; chicken thighs browned; lemon rind, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander and vegetable stock simmered 25 minutes; tomatoes, olives, coriander and lemon juice 5 minutes; wholewheat couscous with chickpeas. We specified Halal chicken.

  2. Chicken analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    What makes chicken Halal: the slaughter.

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