Friday, February 25, 2011

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken -Chickpea and Apricot

When it comes to slow cooker recipes they can be so hit and miss with the texture and flavour so it's up to us to pass along the good ones!

This is one I came across on the   www.food.com  website and it turned out to be really tasty.

You can eat it on it's own but I served it on rice.


  • Ingredients

  • large boneless, skinless chicken breast chopped into large chunks (I used a mixture of thighs and breast)
  • tablespoon flour or tablespoons cornflour
  • large onions, chopped
  • 3 -4 garlic cloves chopped finely
  • 1 -2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • inch fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
  • ounces dried apricots ( I cut them in half )
  • tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans chopped tomato
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans chickpea OR ( I used 1 can chickpea + 1 can white kidney beans)
  • tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 pint chicken stock
  • pinch saffron or teaspoon tumeric
  • teaspoon ground coriander
  • teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • teaspoon ground cumin
  • teaspoon cayenne pepper  (optional) ( I used 1/2 tsp and it was just a little spicy)
  • salt and black pepper
  • 2 carrots peeled & diced (optional)




Directions




  1. -Heat up olive oil in a frying pan/skillet & saute chopped onions & garlic for 5-10 minutes.

  2. -Add chicken stock & gradually mix in flour or cornflour until well mixed & not lumpy.

  3. -Add honey & tomato paste - mix well.

  4. - Add herbs,spices & finely chopped ginger with salt & pepper to taste.

  5. Finally add tinned tomatoes & mix well.

  6. -Pour the above tomato,onion & spice mix into slow cooker

  7. Add chicken & chickpeas & mix well. ** If you are substituting the can of kidney beans add them in halfway through or closer to the end to avoid mushiness.

  8. Add dried apricots making sure they are covered by juice. 

  9. -Add the carrots 

  10. Give it a gentle but good stir to mix everything together well.

  11. -Crock Pot or Slow Cooker - Cook on high for about 3 to 4 hours OR automatic with keep warm facility for up to 8 hours.   

  12. **Please note that the cooking times depend on your crockpot






2 comments:

  1. Hey, I made this for dinner tonight as I was in the mood for Moroccan but didn't want to make my usual rotating few. It was vegetarian night so I made it sans chicken and it was still great. I had a couple other additions (potatoes and lentils) and substitutions (only in baking do I make a recipe exact to instruction--I always make my own improvisations it seems) and it was good! Mark didn't like it as much as me, he didn't like the sweetness of the apricots and honey but I think I'd like to make it again using beef or lamb and omit the honey. We really liked the lentils in it though and ate it with good Naan bread. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I think it would be great with Lamb! If Mark doesn't like as much sweetness, I think omitting the honey is a good idea.
    I will try this again with some of your substitutions - they sound yummy!

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