Chicken Tagine with Chickpeas and Olives

My version of Chicken Tagine.  I love to eat this with plain basmati rice then served with cucumber tomato salad dressed with Greek or plain yoghurt.  Good to eat also with flat bread or bread and fresh green salad.

The beautiful and colorful spices give the delicious flavor on this lovely dish. Tagine usually has saffron, I used cumin and paprika as substitute for saffron as it is not easy to find it here.  The safflower adds more color to the tagine.  Cumin and cinnamon give the distinct flavor.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken, poke with sharp knife or score the chicken to allow the flavors to seep

2 tbsp butter or olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced and chopped

1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste

½ tsp cinnamon powder or 1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp safflower or kasubha

½ tsp cumin

1 cup tomato sauce

½ cup cooked chickpeas or garbanzos

4 fresh cherry tomatoes (optional)

8 pcs of black or green olives

Salt

Garnish

  Handful of almonds for garnish

  Handful of sultanas or raisins

 1/2 cup chopper coriander for garnish

Directions:

1.  You can prepare this dish in a tagine pot, dutch oven or any pan with tight-fitting lid.

2.  Heat the butter or olive oil in the pan then sauté the garlic and onion.  Once onion is translucent, add ginger and the spices; turmeric, paprika, safflower, cumin and cinnamon.  

3.  Add the tomato sauce and finally the chicken on top then cover.

4.  Once it started to boil adjust to low heat then simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the chicken is very tender. 

5.  Discard the cinnamon sticks.

6.  Add the chickpeas, fresh tomatoes and olives then simmer for 2 minutes.

7.  Season with salt according to your taste.

8.  Garnish with almonds, sultanas and coriander.