A delicious spicy chicken and couscous dish with fresh mint and chopped dried fruit. Use any of our spice blends if you wish, but we like our Merguez for a Moroccan flavour, or Kuantan Dipping Chicken for more of a South East Asian taste. Serves 4-6
Ingredients
700g chicken pieces, either boneless and skinless thighs or breasts cut into 2 or 3 pieces
250g couscous
6 tbsp olive oil
1 carton spice blend (see above)
handful each of sultanas and chopped dried apricots
6 cloves garlic, crushed
large handful fresh mint, finely chopped
salt and pepper
Recipe
Blend the olive oil with the spices and garlic and use to smother the chicken pieces. Leave to marinate for a few hours.
Place the chicken pieces in a large oven-proof dish and place in an oven at 180 degrees.
Place the couscous and dried fruit in a similar dish and pour over a slightly greater quantity of boiling water. Stir and allow to swell for 5 minutes, then cover with foil. Place in the oven for 10 minutes .
After the chicken has had 20 minutes cooking, remove from the oven and stir in the couscous. Season and cover with the foil, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
Check the chicken is cooked, then stir the juices through the couscous, stir in the mint and serve with a tomato salad and a fresh minty yoghurt sauce.
(heat 6/10)
This is a blend that you probably think of as a lamb sausage found in Northern Africa, and the southern parts of Europe which have absorbed some of their culture. We have made it quite spicy with lots of cayenne, but it is the large proportion of caraway seeds which gives it a distinctive flavour.
Serves: 4-6
