Day 59: Glazed Moroccan chicken with pomegranate molasses, pickled beets and lemon parsley couscous

Since this is the second last day of my journey as the Lockdown Chef, I thought of doing something simple yet extremely flavourful!

The Moroccan spiced chicken with Ras al Hanout is fragrant and tastes amazing with pomegranate molasses glazing which elevated the dish completely – its a trick that my mom learnt from my Masi.

This recipe works for two people.

Ingredients for the chicken

1. 2 chicken breast fillet

2. 3 tsp Ras al Habout

3. 2 tbsp olive oil

4. 1.4 tsp salt

5. Pinch of pepper

6. Pomegranate molasses

Method

1. Mix the spice, salt, pepper in olive oil in a bowl and rub it over the chicken fillets and keep it in the fridge overnight.

2. Heat a heavy based pan or a skillet grill if you like the charred look.Keep heat on high. Brush the base with some oil.

3. Put the chicken fillets flat on the pan and turn the side after 2 minutes and then flip the side. Reduce the heat after 2 minutes and then cover the pan for around 3 minutes or till it’s cooked.

4. Remove lid and drizzle some pomegranate molasses on one side. Let it cook for 20 seconds and do the same for the other side. Switch off gas

In the meanwhile prepare the couscous

Ingredients for the couscous

1. 1 cup couscous

2. 1 tsp butter

3. 1 cup boiling water

4. 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

5. 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Put couscous in a large bowl. Pour boiling hot water, add butter and cover the bowl for 5 minutes.

2. Then remove the lid and run a fork though the couscous in one direction to fluff it up.

3. Once fluffed, add the lemon juice and chopped parsley. Mix very gently.

Pickled beetroots can be made days before and kept in the fridge. Make a batch of whatever quantity you want.

Ingredients for the pickle (for one beetroot only)

1. 1 large beetroot

2. 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

3. 1 tsp sugar

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1/2 cup water

6. Pinch of pepper

Method

1. Wash and pat dry the beetroot. Wrap it in aluminium foil and put in the oven with gas mark 180 C for one hour. Let it cool and then peel and chop it into large cubes. Put it in a glass jar.

2. Mix apple cider vinegar with sugar, salt pepper and water. Pour the beetroots in the jar, seal it and put it in the fridge.

Enjoy!