Chicken Charmoula

Fragrant toasted spices, olives and preserved lemons make this moroccan-style chicken a dish to be savoured. Time doesn't include marinating.

Steps

Dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds for 30-60 seconds in a small frying pan over medium heat.

Once the seeds smell toasty and begin to brown , immediately remove from the heat.

Then pound them together using a pestle and mortar.

Put the onion , garlic and chopped herbs in a food processor along with the toasted spices , ginger and paprika.

Blitz until the mixture looks reasonably smooth.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and add the chopped olives and preserved lemon.

Stir in a bit of olive oil to slacken the mixture further to a paste.

Season to taste with cayenne , salt and pepper.

Slash the chicken in several places to allow the flavours to penetrate.

Slap the paste all over the chicken , pressing it into the slashes.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours , but overnight if you can.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and leave to stand for about 30 minutes to allow it to come back to room temperature before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Ingredients

cumin seed, coriander seed, onion, garlic cloves, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, ground ginger, paprika, black olives, preserved lemons, olive oil, cayenne, chicken legs, salt & freshly ground black pepper, greek yogurt, milk