Halal-conscious recipe
Moroccan-style chicken with Halal chicken
The Good Food team's Moroccan-style chicken for two: Halal chicken legs browned with onion, then braised in a lemon, garlic, ginger and chermoula paste with Halal or vegetable stock, honey and green olives.
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.
Photo: Ridouan Red · CC BY-SA 4.0
Why Halal checks matter here
The dish is 2 chicken leg pieces, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds, braised in 225 ml of chicken or vegetable stock; chicken stock is a chicken product.
Two chicken leg pieces are browned skin side down with a sliced onion, then braised in a paste of finely chopped lemon (skin and all), garlic, ginger and chermoula spice, with stock and a teaspoon of honey. Green olives and a squeeze of lemon go in at the end. Two things need a Halal source: the chicken, and the stock, for which a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegetable stock works (see stock cubes).
It follows the Good Food team's Moroccan-style chicken for BBC Good Food, which serves two and can be scaled up. The source says stock from a cube is fine, so pick a Halal-certified or vegetable cube.
Serve with couscous or bread.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Chicken legs 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 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 a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
Safe substitutes
- Chicken legs of unknown slaughter → Halal chicken leg pieces
- 225 ml chicken stock from an uncertified cube → 225 ml Halal-certified chicken stock or vegetable stock
Allergens
none
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 Halal chicken leg pieces
- 1 onion, sliced
Paste and sauce
- 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- small knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tsp chermoula spice mix
- 225 ml Halal-certified chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- 1 tsp clear honey
- handful green olives
- to serve chopped coriander
- to serve couscous or bread
Method
- Brown the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Lightly season the chicken and cook skin side down for about 5 minutes until golden. Turn it over, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes more, until the onion is soft and the chicken golden all over.
- Make the paste. Meanwhile, halve the lemon and cut one half into quarters. Finely chop one quarter, skin on, and pound it with the remaining oil, the garlic, ginger and chermoula to a paste. Add it to the pan and cook for 1 minute until you can smell the spices, then pour in the stock and honey and bring to the boil.
- Braise. Turn down the heat, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened and turned glossy, uncovering the pan for the last 5 minutes if needed.
- Finish and serve. Stir in the olives, squeeze over the juice of the other lemon half and scatter with coriander. Serve with couscous or bread.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan-style chicken' by the Good Food team (serves 2: 2 lightly seasoned chicken leg pieces cooked skin side down about 5 minutes in 1 tbsp of 2 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat, turned, a sliced onion added and cooked 5 minutes more; a lemon halved, one half quartered and one quarter finely chopped with its skin and pounded with the rest of the oil, a crushed garlic clove, a small knob of finely chopped ginger and 2 tsp chermoula spice mix; the paste cooked 1 minute in the pan, then 225 ml chicken or vegetable stock (the source says from a cube is fine) and 1 tsp clear honey brought to the boil; covered and cooked 20 to 30 minutes on a lower heat until the chicken is cooked and the sauce glossy, uncovered for the last 5 minutes if needed; a handful of green olives stirred in, the juice of the other lemon half squeezed over and chopped coriander scattered; served with couscous or bread). We specified Halal chicken and a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegetable stock; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Moroccan-style chicken — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By the Good Food team. Serves 2, prep 10 minutes, cook 40 minutes: chicken legs browned with onion, a pounded paste of chopped lemon, oil, garlic, ginger and chermoula, then stock and honey, covered 20 to 30 minutes; olives, lemon juice and coriander. We specified Halal chicken and stock.
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Chicken analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What makes chicken Halal: the slaughter.