North African Chicken, Vegetables And Chick Pea Tagine WIth Coucous

It was an extremely wet and cold weekend here in Melbourne... coldest day in 4 years and wettest May day in 17 years (both on the same day) should give you an idea of the dreary weather we are having at the moment.

Well instead of complaining about the weather which is a favourite Melbournian past time, I decided to cook something very comforting instead. A quick stop at the supermarket and this is what we had for dinner, better still there are enough leftover for quite a few more meals.

P.S This is equally delicious with some steamed rice or some toasted turkish bread.

serves 8
you'll need;
2 kg of chicken drumsticks or cuts of your choice
1 tbs paprika
1/2 tbs of cumin powder
1/2 tbs of coriander powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 large eggplant, cut into large cubes
2 medium size zucchini, cut into 3 mm discs
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3 mm discs
1 can of chick peas, drained
olive oil for cooking
fresh coriander or parsley leaves to serve
couscous to serve
good yoghurt to serve

for the sauce;
3 tbs of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbs of smoked paprika
1 tbs of allspice
1 tbs of sumac
2 x 400 ml can of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of stock
2 bay leaves
lemon rind or  1 tbs of chopped preserved
salt and pepper to taste

Rub chicken with spices, salt and pepper and leave aside until needed.

Prepare the vegetables and aromatics for the sauce.

Fry eggplant with a little olive oil until brown all over and is about 1/3 cooked. Remove from the pan and do the same with the sweet potato and zucchini. You may omit this stage but it does give the finished dish an extra smoky flavour.

Brown chicken with a little oil until is golden all over, remove and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic with a little olive oil, add in the spices when onion is soften and lightly brown. Add chopped tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, preserved lemon or lemon rind and season well.

Place chicken and chick peas to the pot and simmer for 25 minutes.

Next add the sweet potato, after 10 minutes add the eggplant and zucchini and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes. Check for seasonings.

Serve with couscous and a big dollop of yoghurt.