Slow Cooker Chicken and Date Tagine

Do you want a quick, slow cooked meal for a tasty, aromatic and easy mid-week family dinner? This one only requires browning off the chicken pieces, and then all the ingredients are placed in the slow-cooker bowl for 6 hours and dinner is ready when you arrive home. I've served this with wholemeal couscous which is also very easy to prepare. As people eat with their eyes first, if you have an earthenware Tagine dish by all means serve it up in that if you really want to impress, and leftovers improve in flavour for the next day.

Ingredients:

Serves 4/Cook for 6 hours

8 chicken pieces with bone in (drumsticks and thighs, or just drumsticks or thighs)
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chicken stock, salt-reduced
400g can tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon, juiced, and rind finely grated
5 pitted Medjool dates, sliced
3 carrots, thickly sliced
1 red onion, sliced into wedges
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
1 cup couscous, preferably wholemeal or rice
1/4 cup pistachios
1 can chickpeas, optional

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan over high heat.
Cook chicken pieces until browned for about 5 minutes, turning them so that all sides are browned.
In the bowl of the slow cooker, combine chicken stock, tomatoes, garlic, spices, onion, carrot, dates, lemon rind, lemon juice, chickpeas and coriander.

Add the chicken and cover.

Cook on low setting for 6 hours or on a high setting for 3 hours.

Couscous

Place couscous in a heatproof bowl. Add 1 cup of boiling water and 1/2 tablespoon of oil.
Stir well. Cover the bowl with a plate or lid, and set aside for 5 minutes until the liquid is well absorbed.
Mix couscous with a fork until nice and fluffy.
Spoon the couscous onto plates and top with the chicken and vegetables.

Garnish for serving with coriander sprigs and chopped pistachios.

I've adapted this from a recipe a friend gave me, and I hope you enjoy it if you decide to make it. She had used dried apricots and dried ginger in hers which was also delicious..

We are having another cold snap here and this was perfect to enjoy on a chilly Sunday night.

Thanks for dropping by.

Best wishes

Pauline