Spicy chicken tagine with apricots, rosemary and ginger

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil with a knob of butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 finely chopped, the other 2 cut in half
• A large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1–2 cinnamon sticks
• 8 chicken thighs
• 175g ready-to-eat dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons clear honey
• 1 x 400g can of plum tomatoes with their juice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A small bunch of fresh green or purple basil leaves

Method

This chicken can be made with chicken joints or pigeon breasts, pheasant or duck, and needs only a buttery couscous and a leafy salad to accompany it.

Heat the oil and butter in a tagine or a heavy-based casserole. Stir in the onion, chopped rosemary, ginger and chillies and sauté until the onion begins to soften.Stir in the halved rosemary sprigs and the cinnamon sticks.

Add the chicken thighs and brown them on both sides. Toss in the apricots with the honey, then stir in the plum tomatoes with their juice. (Add a little water if necessary, to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the base of the tagine and submerge the apricots.)

Bring the liquid to the boil, then reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 35–40 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred the larger basil leaves and leave the small ones intact.

Sprinkle them over the chicken and serve the dish immediately.

The Modern Tagine Cookbook by Ghillie Başan, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£9.99)

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