Moroccan Chicken with Tomatoes and Saffron-Honey Jam Recipe

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My adaptation of a Moroccan dish; there the result is usually much sweeter and can be more elaborate. In a wonderful Moroccan restaurant called La Mansouria, in Paris, I’ve eaten a version of this dish which even contained pounded rose petals (though, to be honest, you couldn’t tell). Moroccans also serve the sauce on its own as part of their mezze.

Recipes should be guides rather than instructions set in stone, but in this case do what the recipe says: reduce the sauce until it is really jammy.

This recipe is extracted from Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, by Diana Henry

Try Diana's recipe for Ajo Blanco or Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Sherry Cake with Sherry-Raisin Cream!

Ingredients for Moroccan Chicken with Tomatoes and Saffron-Honey Jam Serves: 4

1.7kg (3lb 11oz) whole chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
800g tomatoes, roughly chopped
275ml chicken stock, or water
½ teaspoon saffron threads
3–5 tablespoons runny honey
1 teaspoon orange flower water
25g flaked almonds, toasted
Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

How to make Moroccan Chicken with Tomatoes and Saffron-Honey Jam

Season the chicken pieces and quickly brown them all over in the olive oil. Set the chicken aside and cook the onion in the same pan until soft and just colouring. Add the garlic, cinnamon and ginger and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Tip in the tomatoes, mix everything together well, reduce the heat and cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring from time to time.
Boil the stock or water and dissolve the saffron in it. Pour this over the vegetables and bring the whole thing to the boil. Set the chicken pieces on top, together with any juices that have come out of them, and spoon the liquid over them. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is tender; it should take about 30 minutes, but check after 25.
Remove the chicken pieces, set them aside, cover and keep warm. Now bring the juices to the boil and simmer until well reduced to a kind of ‘cream’: it shouldn’t be at all sloppy. Add honey to taste and continue to cook until well-reduced and jam-like. Check the seasoning and add the orange flower water. Return the chicken and warm it through in the sauce.
Serve scattered with the toasted almonds and chopped coriander, with couscous or flatbreads on the side.

About the author

Diana Henry is one of the UK’s best-loved food writers. She has a weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph and writes for BBC Good Food, House & Garden and Waitrose Weekend, as well as being a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4. She also has a series of popular podcasts, in which she interviews other prominent names in the food world. Her journalism and books are multi-award-winning. Diana’s last book, How to Eat a Peach, won the André Simon Food Book of the Year for 2018, while A Bird in the Hand won a James Beard Award in 2016. Her other titles have won book of the year at both the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards and at the Guild of Food Writers awards. Diana has written several books, including Crazy Water Pickled Lemons, Cook Simple, Food from Plenty, Salt Sugar Smoke, A Change of Appetite, A Bird in the Hand, Simple and How to Eat a Peach.