Roast chicken with tabil, harissa and chickpeas

Name: Roast chicken with tabil, harissa and chickpeas
Prep time: 18 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Tunisian Jewish
Ingredients: 400 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot) (4 small skinless boneless chicken thighs, about 100 g each; no more than 2 cm thick); 480 g Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin) (2 × 400 g tins, giving 480 g drained); 400 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) (1 tin, including the juice); 20 g Double-concentrated tomato purée (1 tbsp); 120 g Yellow onions (1 medium onion); 15 g Garlic (3 cloves); 40 g Extra virgin olive oil (4 tbsp: 25 g for the onion, 5 g to glaze the chicken and 10 g added uncooked at the end); 6 g Tabil (Tunisian coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli spice blend) (2½ tsp salt-free spice blend: 5 g in the sauce and 1 g on the chicken); 1 g Ground caraway (½ tsp); 15 g Harissa (1 tbsp: 10 g in the sauce and 5 g on the chicken; use a harissa whose heat level you know); 4 g Fine salt (¾ tsp: 3 g in the sauce and 1 g to adjust the seasoning at the end; koshering only salts the surface of the chicken); 60 g Lemon (½ lemon: the finely grated zest (1 tsp, about 2 g), then 25 g juice, both added after cooking); 12 g Flat-leaf parsley (a small handful of leaves, about ⅛ of a bunch); 100 g Bread (baguette or country loaf) (2 generous slices of kosher pareve bread, for mopping up the sauce)

meat main dish · Tunisian Jewish · 1/5 · very easy · 45 min, including 18 hands-on

Harissa-glazed boneless chicken thighs roasted uncovered on chickpeas in a tomato sauce with tabil bloomed in oil: the top caramelises while the chickpeas soak up the reduced sauce. Everything cooks in one dish.

Ingredients for two

400 g	Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot) 4 small skinless boneless chicken thighs, about 100 g each; no more than 2 cm thick
480 g	Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin) 2 × 400 g tins, giving 480 g drained
400 g	Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) 1 tin, including the juice
20 g	Double-concentrated tomato purée 1 tbsp
120 g	Yellow onions 1 medium onion
15 g	Garlic 3 cloves
40 g	Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp: 25 g for the onion, 5 g to glaze the chicken and 10 g added uncooked at the end
6 g	Tabil (Tunisian coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli spice blend) 2½ tsp salt-free spice blend: 5 g in the sauce and 1 g on the chicken
1 g	Ground caraway ½ tsp
15 g	Harissa 1 tbsp: 10 g in the sauce and 5 g on the chicken; use a harissa whose heat level you know
4 g	Fine salt ¾ tsp: 3 g in the sauce and 1 g to adjust the seasoning at the end; koshering only salts the surface of the chicken
60 g	Lemon ½ lemon: the finely grated zest (1 tsp, about 2 g), then 25 g juice, both added after cooking
12 g	Flat-leaf parsley a small handful of leaves, about ⅛ of a bunch
100 g	Bread (baguette or country loaf) 2 generous slices of kosher pareve bread, for mopping up the sauce

Method

Set the oven to 220°C fan. Peel the onion and slice into 2–3 mm strips. In a 30 × 22 cm ovenproof dish, toss with 25 g oil and 1 g salt, spread out and put straight into the oven while it heats up. Cook for 10 minutes: the onion should soften and turn golden at the edges.
Meanwhile, rinse and drain the chickpeas. Peel the garlic and crush in a garlic press. Mix 5 g oil, 5 g harissa and 1 g tabil in a bowl, then brush over the tops of the chicken thighs. Wash the lemon and finely grate the zest of one half; reserve that half.
Take the dish out and add the garlic, tomato purée, remaining 10 g harissa, 5 g tabil and the caraway. Mix into the onion and oil, then return to the oven for 3 minutes: the paste will darken, become glossy and smell fragrant. This is the tqalia, the step that gives the sauce its depth; do not skip it.
Take the dish out, pour in the tomatoes and their juice, add the chickpeas and 2 g salt, then mix, scraping the bottom. Taste the sauce: it should be well seasoned. If necessary, add a pinch of salt from the reserved gram. Arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer, brushed side up, half submerged in the sauce with the tops exposed. Do not cover.
Roast on the middle shelf for 25 minutes at 220°C, chopping the parsley meanwhile. If the tops darken too much before the end, add a spoonful of sauce over each piece. After 25 minutes, the chicken should be golden and glazed in places, and the sauce reduced by a third, bubbling and thickening at the edges. Check the centre of the thickest piece with a thermometer: it should read 80–85°C and the juices should run clear; otherwise cook for another 5 minutes. Without a thermometer, cut into the centre of the thickest piece: the flesh should be white all the way through and the juices clear, with no trace of pink.
Take the dish out, turn off the oven and put the bread in for 2–3 minutes while you finish the dish; the chicken rests in its sauce during this time, with no need to cover it. Drizzle over 25 g lemon juice from the reserved half lemon and the 10 g uncooked olive oil, scatter over the zest and parsley, then gently stir the sauce around the chicken. Taste and adjust the seasoning with whatever remains of the reserved gram of salt. Serve two thighs per person on half the chickpeas, generously coated in sauce, with the warm bread for mopping up.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.

Lighter version

How the taste changes:

The tomato sauce is less rounded and oily, allowing the harissa and tabil to stand out more. With fewer chickpeas and less bread, the chicken and sauce take a greater share of each mouthful than the soft, floury elements.

Extra virgin olive oil : 20 g
Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 50 g
Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin) : 360 g

In step 1, soften the onion in 15 g oil instead of 25 g; in step 6, omit the uncooked olive oil. Keep the remaining chickpeas (½ tin) in the fridge for a salad or hummus.

Less oil and bread, with the same reduced sauce.

On your plate

Recipe

926 kcal · protein 64 g · carbs 77 g · fat 38 g

Quantities per person

200 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot)
240 g Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin)
200 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin)
10 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
60 g Yellow onions
7.5 g Garlic
20 g Extra virgin olive oil
3 g Tabil (Tunisian coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli spice blend)
0.5 g Ground caraway
7.5 g Harissa
2 g Fine salt
30 g Lemon
6 g Flat-leaf parsley
50 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)

Cooking tips

Reheat leftovers covered for 10 minutes at 160°C. The next day, use the sauce and chickpeas to fill a pitta with a hard-boiled egg. For a more Tunisian version, add ¼ finely chopped preserved lemon with the tomatoes in step 4 and reduce the fresh lemon juice to 15 g. Chicken thighs thicker than 2 cm need another 5–10 minutes.

Equipment : oven, 30 × 22 cm ovenproof dish, colander, garlic press, fine grater and citrus juicer, bowl and pastry brush (or spoon), kitchen thermometer

A house recipe inspired by Tunisian seasonings: tabil, harissa and lemon.

Roast chicken with tabil, harissa and chickpeas

Method

Timer

On your plate

Recipe

Cooking tips

Explore this cuisine

Starters to serve with this dish

Three recipes to try next

Comments and reviews

Share your experience