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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.

Moroccan · Main · Easy · 2 portions · 50 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.

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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.

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.

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Allergens

none

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.

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