Don’t hate me, but this recipe doesn’t use the Thermomix. I know right? But it is so tasty that I can’t just keep it to myself.

I’ve made this using my other great love, my new digital pressure cooker, my “Instant Pot”. Don’t panic if you don’t have one; you can cook this in any pressure cooker or even in the oven, but I do love the IP.

We’re moving soon so I am doing my best to use up all the interesting things lurking in the pantry and not to buy any new ingredients other than fresh produce as we need it. Really this is something I should get in the habit of doing regardless of moving house as it really does force you to be creative and stops the pantry exploding.

I had been browsing through Sabrina Ghayour’s new cookbook “Persiana” (I highly recommend it) trying to find something I had all the ingredients for but I kept falling short. I almost caved and fled to the shop for preserved lemon but I stayed strong! Finally I settled on a recipe for spiced rice with lentils and crispy onions (delicious incidentally) but I still needed a main to serve it with. I decided to wing it and it turns out the make-it-up-as-you-go-along gods were smiling on me.

Very easy to make, and if you happen to have a copy of Persiana it went very nicely with the rice. If you’re desperate to use your Thermomix go ahead and grind your own spices 😉

Lemony Chicken Tagine

Serve’s 4-6 [GF, DF]

• 2 tsp each of ground Coriander, Ginger, and Cumin
• 1 tsp each of ground Cinnamon and Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp Chilli Powder (optional)
• 1 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Lemon, finely zested and juiced
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 Cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 kg Chicken Thigh Fillets, each cut in 2-3 pieces
• 1 can Chopped Tomatoes (or 1/2 can plus 2 fresh chopped)
• 200 ml Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Pitted dates, coarsely chopped
• 1 Can Chickpeas, drained (optional, I omitted this time as my rice had lentils).
• 2 Tbs Cornflour
• Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped
• Greek yoghurt

1. Combine spices, oil, lemon, bay leaf, sugar and garlic in a large bowl to form a paste.
2. Add Chicken pieces and stir to coat all pieces. Cover and refrigerate for an hour if you have time for flavours to combine (it’s not the end of the world if you don’t want to wait an hour).
3. Transfer chicken mixture to the pressure cooker bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except fresh coriander and cornflour, and stir to combine.
4. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes [in the IP close the lid, turn vent to ‘sealing, press Poultry and use the ‘-‘ button to reduce the time to 8 minutes]. Let pressure naturally reduce for 5 minutes before opening.
5. Make a thin paste with the cornflour and a little water. Bring the chicken to a simmer [in the IP press ‘Saute’] and stir through the cornflour paste. Allow it to cook for a few minutes to thicken.
6. Turn off heat and stir through chopped coriander, reserving a little to garnish.
7. Serve with rice or cous cous, a good dollop of greek yoghurt, and a sprinkle of coriander.

*for oven cooking bake covered at 180 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.