A little over three years ago, I took a class at a local restaurant, Tara Kitchen, which sent me on a Moroccan-cooking bender: I stocked my pantry with ras-el-hanout and harissa, made a batch (two actually) of preserved lemons, then used them to make a tagine with chicken, green olives, and raisins. I had known little about Moroccan cooking before taking the class, and I still know little, but everything I seem to make with Moroccan seasonings, I tend to love: see Leblebi (North African Chickpea Stew) and now this one-pot chicken and rice with dates, harissa, and pistachios. It’s a mix of sweet and spicy, smoky and crunchy, and best of all it couldn’t be simpler to prepare. It comes from Diana Henry’s Simple. Note: You’ll need harissa, a spicy prepared paste/sauce, which is not hard to find these days. If you’re up for making it from scratch, this is a great recipe: Homemade Harissa. Or you can use jarred. I like Tara Kitchen’s brand, which is now available at Whole Foods Market (not everywhere, see locations here).
5 Favorite No-Browning Chicken Recipes
4.8 from 12 reviews I have made the recipe somewhat more fussy: the original recipe truly calls for throwing everything in the pot, sticking it in the oven, and baking it. I didn’t love the taste of the raw onion, so I added one more step, which is to sauté the onions for 5 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients one after the other. I prefer toasting whole cumin seeds then grinding them in my mortar and pestle. Do this if you prefer as well. I also don’t love ground ginger, so I used a teaspoon of coriander seeds (not similar, but works here), which I also toasted and ground. Harissa is spicy prepared Moroccan sauce/paste. It varies in heat level, so you may have to adjust to taste. I found the 1.5 tablespoons called for in the original recipe not spicy enough for me; 4 tablespoons is quite spicy, however. Original recipe calls for 12 dates. I prefer fewer, but use as many as you wish. Brown rice: several commenters tried unsuccessfully to use brown rice. It’s possible that a larger amount of water could help the brown rice cook properly, but I’ve never tried, so I can’t say for sure. I would look to the package instructions for guidance re water and time.
