These are a few of my favorite things. Preserved lemons. Olives. Mediterranean cuisine. This Moroccan chicken with olives captures all of these things in one flavorful succulent dish.
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs to speed up the cooking time and simplify this traditional Moroccan recipe. If you do not have preserved lemons, no worries. I published a recipe for preserved lemons recently. So while you are waiting 30 days for your lemons to pickle or mature, you can use lemon juice and a little grated zest to approximate the flavors for this Moroccan chicken with olives.
After you briefly brown the chick thighs, remove them from the skillet. Now this is when your kitchen will begin to smell divine. Add the spices; ginger, cumin, paprika and turmeric and grated onion and minced garlic to the skillet with the hot olive oil. Allow the spices to combine and tantalize you with their exotic aromas.
Return the chicken thighs to the skillet and add water or chicken stock and continue cooking. The natural juices from the chicken will combine with the spices and other aromatics to create a flavorful natural sauce.
Once the chicken is cooked, you will add lemon juice or if you have preserved lemon, a half of a rinsed and chopped pickled lemon. These lemons are not sour like a pickle. Rather, they take on a smooth and silky texture and flavor that is quite subtle. The fresh lemon juice and the zest are the only substitute and will result in a nice citrusy and tart chicken dish. However, the preserved lemons give the Moroccan chicken an authentic flavor that cannot be duplicated.
Be liberal with the green olives and choose one of you favorite varieties. I used castelvetrano, a plump round bright green Italian olive, because I love the taste and the saltiness.
After you remove the chicken and reduce the sauce, garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
I serve this Moroccan chicken with couscous and either the fattoush or Shirazi salad.
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