- 1 red onion
- 1 garlic clove
- A thumb of ginger
- A 250g pack of chicken breast mini fillets
- A 50g bag of dried apricots
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cauliflower
- A 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 lemon
- A handful of mint, leaves only
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 200ml boiling water
- Deep frying pan or wok
- Food processor (optional)
- Bowl
- Sieve
- 1.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and grate the garlic and the ginger. Roughly chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.
- 2.
Warm 1 tsp oil in a deep frying pan or wok over a medium heat. Fry the chicken for 5 mins, turning now and then, till the chicken is golden all over.
- 3.
Add the onion to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over a low heat for 3-4 mins, stirring now and then, till soft and glossy. If it starts to stick, add a splash of water.
- 4.
While the chicken and onion cook, roughly chop the dried apricots. Once the onions are soft, add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook and stir for 1 min till the pan smells fragrant.
- 5.
Add the apricots and 1 cinnamon stick. Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Add ½ a tin (about 200ml) of boiling water. Cover. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 15 mins till the chicken is cooked through.
- 6.
Pull the green leaves off the cauliflower and break into florets. Pop the florets into a food processor and blitz till you have small ‘grains’, like couscous. You may need to do this in batches. No processor? Just coarsely grate or finely chop the cauliflower instead.
- 7.
Tip the cauli couscous into a bowl. Pour in enough boiling water to cover. Leave to soak for 5 mins, then drain well. Finely grate and juice the lemon. Chop half the mint leaves. Stir the zest and chopped mint into the cauli couscous with some seasoning.
- 8.
Add the lemon juice to the chicken tagine. Discard the cinnamon stick. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the chicken with the cauli couscous, garnished with the remaining mint leaves.