Instapot Moroccan style pumpkin chicken tagine
Instapot Moroccan style pumpkin chicken tagine
Prep time: 15-60 minute (overnight waiting time)
Cook time: 60 minute
Serves: 8-12 servings
Ingredients:
Spice mix
- 2 tsp ancho pepper (mild) / cayenne pepper (mild/med)
- 2 tbsp of ground ginger
- 2 tsp of ground ceylon cinnamon (or 1 tsp of cassia/conventional) + 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp of ground cumin
- 2 tsp of ground coriander seeds
- 2 tsp of paprika powderCooking ingredients
3 lbs of bone-in chicken thigh / 3.5 lbs of boneless chicken thigh
4 cloves / 1 tsp of chopped garlic
1 large diced onion
1 pie pumpkin / similar sized squash (3-4 lbs), cooked with skin and seeds removed
1.5 cups of water
1/2 cup of raisins
2 tsp of coarse salt (less if fine salt)
1/2 bunch of cilantro (about 1/2 cup chopped)
1/2 bunch of parsley (about 1/2 cup chopped)
1/2 cup of green peas
1 preserved lemon, thinly sliced or zest of 1 lemon + 1/4 tsp of salt
Garnish ingredients
1/2 bunch of cilantro (about 1/2 cup chopped)
1/2 bunch of parsley (about 1/2 cup chopped)
Optional : purple olives
Optional : pomegranate
Serve with (recommended)
Basmati rice
Sliced schar gluten free baguette
Cooking Tools:
Instapot
Directions :
Set instapot on saute.
Add oil in, then add the garlic and onion and saute for 30 second.
Add spices, saute for 30 seconds.
Add in all the chicken, then water.
Close the instapot lid and change the setting to cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. When it is done cooking, wait 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.
Open the lid. Add in cooked pumpkin, peas, salt, cilantro, parsley, finely diced preserved lemon and raisins.
Set the instapot back to saute. Be careful of splatter as the content will be hot. Let it cook with the lid open for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly so nothing sticks to the bottom. You're done when the liquid is thickened to a sauce consistency.
Serve the tagine with rice / gluten-free bread. Garnish with parsley, cilantro, olives, and pomegranate.
Cooking Tip:
Don’t let the photos fool you - this is a incredibly easy to make dish. The hardest part is gathering up all the ingredients, but it’s such a forgiving dish, you can swap out items easily (e.g. whatever seasonal vegetable you have on hand like zucchini, eggplant, carrots, potato, tomato… the list goes on), and still make it delicious even if you’re missing a few spices.
I typically pre-mix a batch of this spice mix and keeping it in a jar during the cold winter months when I make all types of tagine. It’s a real time saver!
Stay healthy with Annie:
Did you know the majority of cinnamon sold are cassia, and 1-2 tsp of cassia cinnamon can easily push you over the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) intake of coumarin, which can potentially cause kidney, liver and lung damage, and cancer?
(When the label doesn’t specify type, 99%+ of the time it is cassia)
Ceylon (True) cinnamon may be a bit more expensive and not as strong a flavor if you’re used to using cassia / Saigon / Chinese cinnamon. But it’s beautifully delicate and sweet aroma is much more desirable once you become used to the flavor of it, and it contains 1/250 of the coumarin of cassia. This means if you love using cinnamon in all your holiday cookies, pies, tagine, lattes, etc. (my list goes on), it’s best to switch to ceylon. I’ve linked to my favorite brand of ceylon cinnamon here.
Nutritious and Delicious:
This one pot (instapot) tagine is great for a hearty cold month meal that will either feed a festive gathering, or serve as a main course for many reheatable meals for two. The lemon zest / preserved lemon adds a beautiful aroma unlike any other in this dish.
The chicken, combined with seasonal pumpkin, herb garnish and lots of spices provides a balanced boost of nutrition in one meal. (47% of your micronutrients according to my cronometer app, and over 50% served with basmati rice)