[ENG] Chicken Tagine with Caramelized Pumpkin | Flavors of Morocco

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ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
The combination of sweet and savory flavors is a fan favorite in Moroccan cuisine. Many tagines are made with a protein (chicken, beef, lamb, fish…) that is braised in savory flavors including warm spices and onions, then paired with a dried or fresh fruits (such as pears, apricots, pumpkin, plums, quince, ect.) that are caramelized with honey and cinnamon. These beloved tagines are made all over the country, especially for special occasions like eids or weddings.

One such example of these amazing tagines is the chicken tagine with caramelized pumpkin from the course. The chicken is braised in a rich sauce that includes saffron, ginger, turmeric and lots of onions, then topped with a sweet puree of caramelized pumpkins that are decorated with almonds, walnuts and sesame seeds.
The chef in the video used organic, free-range, grass fed chicken, which in Morocco is known as “djaj beldi” meaning “classic chicken,” but feel free to use regular chicken, cornish hens, or even beef to make this tagine.

Ingredients
For steaming the pumpkin
Water for steaming the pumpkin
500g (1 lb) pumpkin, preferably sugar-pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon salt
For caramelizing the pumpkin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
Pinch of salt
2 heaping tablespoon white granulated sugar (or to taste)
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey (or to taste)
For the chicken
1 whole free-range, grass-fed organic chicken, cut into thighs and breast (You can also use regular chicken or cornish hens)
1 heaping teaspoon turmeric
1 heaping teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon smen (fermented butter)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons water
Small bouquet of cilantro and parsley
Kitchen twine
1/2 L (2 cups) water
2 large red or yellow onions
Saffron threads
Water to soak the saffron
For decoration
Fried almonds (see attached bonus for how to make Moroccan fried almonds)
Walnuts
Sesame seeds

Steps
Step 1: Steaming the pumpkin
1- Fill up the bottom part of a double boiler with water.
2- Add the salt and bring the water to a boil.
3- Peel the pumpkin and remove its seeds.
4- Cut the pumpkin into medium sized cubes, then rinse it.
5- Place the pumpkin in the top part of the double boiler and steam it for 15 minutes or until tender.
Note: If you do not have a double boiler, you can cook the pumpkin in a regular pot. Cover 1/4 of the pumpkin with water, then cook for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Caramelizing the pumpkin
1- Heat up the oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.
2- Lower the heat, and add the steamed pumpkin and salt.
3- Mash the pumpkin with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.
4- Add the sugar and cook while frequently stirring until the pumpkin starts to caramelize and turns a darker orange color (about 5 minutes).
5- Add the orange blossom water, cinnamon and honey, then continue stirring until the pumpkin turns a light brown color (about 10 minutes).
6- Set aside to cool.
Step 3: Preparing the chicken
1- Place the chicken in a pressure cooker.
2- Add turmeric, ginger, pepper, salt, smen, olive oil, and vegetable oil.
3- Peel the garlic, then grate it into the pot.
4- Add the water, then place the pot over medium heat.
5- Tie up the parsley and cilantro with kitchen twine, then add the bouquet to the pot.
6- Flip the chicken, then add the water making sure that you pour it on the side of the pot and not directly on the chicken so the spices don’t get washed off.
7- Peel and finely chop the onions, then add them to the pot. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
8- Dilute the saffron threads in the water, allow it to steep for a couple of minutes, then add it to the pot.
Step 4: Shaping the caramelized pumpkin
1- Once the caramelized pumpkin has cooled, place it in diamond shaped silicone molds.
2- Freeze the molds for 15 minutes, then unmold the caramelized pumpkins.
2- Decorate the caramelized pumpkin with almonds or walnuts, or roll them in sesame seeds.
Step 5: Serving the tagine
1- When the chicken is fully cooked, turn off the heat, allow the steam to escape, then open the pressure cooker.
2- Remove the chicken from the pot, then turn the heat back on to high and cook until the sauce thickens.
3- Place the chicken in your serving plate.
4- Decorate with caramelized pumpkin.

Hello my name is Siham and I am a chef Today we are making chicken tagine with caramelized pumpkin We are using natural organic chicken that has a really good taste and flavor You can also use cornish hens Or regular chicken Or meat, either lamb or beef First, we are going to boil water so that we steam the pumpkin You can either steam the pumpkin in a double boiler or you can put it in a pressure cooker with a 1/2 cup of water and cook it in there for 5 minutes Add some salt in the water Even if the pumpkin is caramelized salt makes the sweet flavors pop While the water is boiling let’s cut the pumpkin Remove the seeds Remove the skin Let’s wash the pumpkin Drain it Once we have drained the pumpkin from water We are going to steam it For about 15 minutes Let’s check if the pumpkin is ready See it’s soft It’s well cooked Turn off the heat Let’s heat up a pan Add a little bit of oil Pumpkin requires oil to cook well We add some butter Butter gives a really nice flavor to this dish Add a pinch of salt at the beginning along with the butter Once the butter melts add the pumpkin As you can see the pumpkin is well cooked It is very easy to smash the pumpkin because it is soft Lower the heat Smash well, we can do it easily just with a wooden spoon Here, we smashed all of it with the spoon We let the pumpkin cook a bit before adding the sugar and cinnamon Now we add the sugar so the pumpkin caramelizes As always, add sugar to your taste The pumpkin started caramelizing Now we add a bit of orange blossom water It gives a nice flavor We add a bit of cinnamon Also a little bit of honey Continue cooking the pumpkin Until it caramelizes The color will change after the pumpkin caramelizes from orange to a darker color The pumpkin is ready, it is caramelized We will let it cool down before shaping it for decoration Let’s prepare the chicken This is organic natural chicken we washed it and cleaned it We season with a bit of ground turmeric Ground ginger Pepper Salt Smen We add olive oil Vegetable oil We will need garlic cloves We add just a little bit of water Take some fresh parsley Make a small bunch Add it to the pot The chicken is browning flip it to the other side Add a little bit of water always on the sides So that we don’t wash off the spices from the chicken Now we add the chopped onions This the equivalent of 2 big onions chopped Next I am diluting saffron threads in water I will let the sauce boil a bit then add the saffron The sauce has boiled let’s add the saffron Also add some water Close the pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes Take the caramelized pumpkin now it cooled down I prefer to shape it in these silicon molds it looks fancy I have circles and squares today I am using the circular one Place the mold in the freezer so that the shapes hold together then later we will remove them from the mold We can also shape the pumpkin using these small glass bowls Or you can just shape it with 2 spoons We shape it like a leaf Fix the shape with your fingers You can decorate it with fried almonds The other one you can decorate with walnuts We will place them in the fridge so that the shape holds After 30 minutes of cooking the chicken turn off the heat and check if the chicken is cooked It is clear the chicken is done it looks soft We are going to remove the chicken so we can reduce the sauce Turn on the heat And continue cooking the sauce until it thickens The sauce is ready The sauce is thick now Let’s place the chicken in the main plate After freezing the pumpkin decoration remove them from the mold You can dip them in sesame seeds if you want You can make the pumpkin topping the day before Or you can unmold them place them in a container and freeze them to use whenever you need to When you freeze these overnight they are stiffer than this These ones that we placed in the fridge are also holding their shape well Let’s place it in the center You can decorate as you wish It’s better if you freeze them overnight When you unmold them and place them on the hot chicken They will soften a few minutes later Now we add the sauce The chicken tagine with caramelized pumpkin is ready Bessaha wraha!