Algerian Olive Chicken Tagine

It’s the time for Arabic Flavour recipe of the month, a traditional dish that comes from the beautiful Algeria:) An authentic Algerian Olive Tajine with chicken stew and spiced meatballs!

This Arabic flavour recipe was presented by the beautiful Najat Al-Seeedi ( the host of the month) and she was so excited to share her simple rich and flavourful Algerian tagine with us. Indeed, when the recipe was posted I was in a hurry to try it, since I like everything cooked in Tagines :) and the photo below shows my entry for it.

Tagines are a must in every North African’s Ramdani table, and since we are now enjoying the days of the holy month of Ramadan, this dish came out to be the perfect choice . A classical Algerian dish that is made of chicken stew and meatballs cooked on a bed of spiced vegetables and generous amount of olives… cooked and served in the popular traditional tagine.

I would love to thank Najat for sharing this recipe, providing us a great opportunity to try a wonderful dish from Algerian cuisine,it was a new experience for me and I can say that I loved it!

Now, will leave You with the full recipe adapted from Arabic flavour,Enjoy! :)

Algerian Olive Chicken Tagine

الوصفة باللغة العربية اضغط هنا

Ingredients :

1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (washed and cleaned).

400gm minced lamb meat

200gm mushrooms cut into slices

300-350gm green olives (washed and soaked in cold water to reduce salt )

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 large carrots sliced

For Meatballs Spices you will need:

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small onion, chopped

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

¼ teaspoon ginger powder

Salt and black pepper as desire

¼ teaspoon cumin powder

2 Tablespoons of finely chopped parsley

1 egg

Tagine Spices :

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Few threads of Saffron

½ teaspoon ginger powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt as desired

1 small bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped

2 dried bay leaves

Directions :

- To make meatballs, in a medium bowl put onion, garlic, minced lamb, along with all spices. Using your hands mix well until combined. A add salt, pepper, parsley and the egg. Keep mixing, then shape the meat dough into small size balls and fry in a little amount of oil. Keep a side.

- In a medium pot or a tagine heat 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil, add chicken ,onion, garlic, carrots and mushrooms. Add salt and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, then add all tagine spices, and chopped parsley . Add water to only cover chicken pieces and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- Add fried meat balls, and olives. Cook until chicken and vegetables are tender and water is reduced. About 25 minutes.

- Serve hot with some Arabic bread, soup, or your choice of salad . Bon Appétit :)