isithalal.food · Recipes

Moroccan chicken stew with lemon, olives and dates

The Hemsley sisters' Moroccan chicken stew with Halal chicken: crisp-skinned thighs simmered with spiced red onion, peppers, lemon slices, green olives, dates and Halal or vegetable stock, finished with green beans, herbs and toasted almonds.

Moroccan · Main · Moderate · 4 bowls · 75 min

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.

Print Back to recipe

Why Halal checks matter here

The stew is 4 skin-on chicken thighs, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds, simmered in 250 ml of chicken stock or bone broth, which is a meat product.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Chicken thighs: 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.
• Chicken stock or bone broth: Bought chicken stock is a chicken product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or meat fat. Use a Halal-certified chicken stock or bone broth, or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.

Ingredients

Stew

• large handful flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• thumb-sized piece (about 40 g) ginger, finely grated
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ smoked sweet paprika (the source gives no unit)
• 4 Halal skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 red peppers, sliced into thin strips
• 1 large lemon, cut into 6 thick slices
• handful green olives, stoned
• 250 ml Halal-certified chicken stock or bone broth, or vegetable stock
• 4 pitted dates or dried apricots, chopped
• small pinch chilli powder, or 1 fresh red chilli, chopped (optional)
• 150 g green beans, halved

To finish

• handful coriander, chopped
• handful parsley, chopped

Method

1. Toast the almonds. In a large, dry pan, gently toast the almonds for 2 minutes until golden, watching them closely as they burn easily, then set aside.
2. Soften the onions. In the same pan, heat the ghee and cook the onions gently for 8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and fry for 1 minute more.
3. Brown the chicken. Add the chicken thighs skin-side down and cook until the skin is golden and crisp, then turn them and lightly colour the flesh side.
4. Simmer. Add the peppers, lemon slices, olives, stock, dates or apricots and the chilli, if using. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Adjust the sauce. If the sauce is too watery, take off the lid and let it reduce a little; if it is too thick, add a few tablespoons of water.
6. Finish. Add the green beans for the final 4 minutes of cooking. Season and top with the coriander, parsley and toasted almonds to serve.

Allergens

nuts (almonds), milk (ghee)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan chicken stew' by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, tagged Moroccan (serves 4: a large handful of flaked almonds toasted 2 minutes in a dry pan and set aside; 2 finely sliced red onions cooked gently 8 minutes in 1 tbsp ghee; 4 chopped garlic cloves, a thumb-sized piece of grated ginger (about 40 g), 1 tsp each ground cumin and cinnamon and ½ smoked sweet paprika (the source gives no unit) fried 1 minute; 4 skin-on chicken thighs browned skin-side down until crisp, then turned; 2 red peppers in strips, a large lemon in 6 thick slices, a handful of stoned green olives, 250 ml gluten-free chicken stock or bone broth, 4 chopped pitted dates or dried apricots and an optional pinch of chilli powder or a chopped red chilli simmered covered about 40 minutes; the sauce reduced uncovered or loosened with water as needed; 150 g halved green beans added for the final 4 minutes; seasoned and topped with a handful each of chopped coriander and parsley and the almonds). We specified Halal chicken and a Halal-certified or vegetable stock; nothing else needed changing. The source rates it 'More effort'. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: vegetables layered in a tagine before cooking, not the finished dish from this recipe.