Moroccan Roasted Chicken “djaj m’hamar”

Moroccan Roasted Chicken is a classic Moroccan dish full of aromatics and Mediterranean spices, which gives it an incredible authentic flavor. This dish, usually prepared on weddings and feasts in Morocco, is very suitable for your special occasions with your family and friends or simply you can cook it because you feel like doing something special for you and your beloved ones.

This version here serves 4 people but you can simply multiply the recipe according to your own needs.

Ingredients:

For chicken marinade:

· One (4 to 5 pound) whole chicken

· 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper

· 1 teaspoon ginger powder

· 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

· 1 teaspoon ground cumin

· 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1 teaspoon saffron (optional)

· 2 teaspoons salt

· 2 medium red onions, quartered

· 3 garlic cloves

· ½ cup olive oil

· ½ cup lemon juice

· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

· ½ preserved lemon

· 3 tablespoons of butter

For sauce:

· 100g chicken liver (optional)

· 1 chopped red onion

· 1 tablespoon of olive oil

· Chicken liquid *

For garnish:

· 1 cup peeled fried almonds

· 3 hardboiled eggs

· ½ preserved lemon

· 1 cup green pitted olives

Instructions:

Marinade:

· Wash and pat dry the chicken

· In a large bowl, mix the dry spices: turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, smoked paprika, black pepper, ginger and salt. Then add olive oil and lemon juice to the mix

· Meanwhile, in a food processor, grind the red onions, coriander, parsley and garlic cloves. Add them to the previous mix and combine all the ingredients together

· Put the whole chicken in the bowl of spices, rubbing all over the chicken, under the skin and inside the cavity, with a kitchen twine tie the chicken legs together. Then cover it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Cooking method:

Chicken:

In a large pot, add a tablespoon of butter to melt and then put the chicken. Let it caramelize for 3 minutes then add 3 to 4 cups of water and let it cook until the meat is tender (save the chicken liquid for the sauce)*.

Remove the chicken form the pot and let it cool down for a while then place it in a roasting pan and, baste it with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Let it roast uncovered in the oven until the skin is golden brown.

Sauce:

In a saucepan, add olive oil and the chopped onion. Let the onion caramelize and then add the reaming chicken liquid from the pot, salt and the chicken liver

Lower the heat and simmer until thickened

Remove the chicken livers and cut them into small pieces (save them for the garnish).

Presentation:

Put the chicken into a large platter and garnish it with fried almonds, green olives, long strips of preserved lemons, shopped livers and hard-boiled eggs.

Put the sauce on the side or arrange it over and around the chicken on the platter. Serve immediately.

Bon appétit!