fbpx

Roast Chicken with Couscous, Prunes, Apricots, Dates & Almonds

I guess this Ramadan proves that I’m drawn to Mediterranean and North African food as my go-to cuisine for the month. The mixture of sweet and savory, the healthy and light fare offered, the aromatic spices. Yes, please.

The original recipe (called Djaj M’Ammar Bil Kesksou) calls for stuffing the bird (chicken, pigeon, squab) with the couscous mixture after the bird has been cooking for some time, but it also says you can place it on the side. Stuffing seemed a bit difficult to me because, well, dealing with a very hot bird and a very hot pan, I honestly had trouble maneuvering around to scoop the couscous into the bird’s cavity. So, I did the next best thing- put the couscous all around the bird and covered the pan while it cooked, hoping it would not burn or dry out the couscous. What resulted was a perfectly moist bird and nicely steamed couscous. I’ll be doing it this way again and again, insha’Allah.

Here’s how you can do it, too: 

Preheat your oven to 400° F.

Prepare the chicken (you can get Halal chicken delivered to you from Billy Doe Meats at my affiliate link here) first by gathering the spices (ground cinnamon, ground ginger, sea salt, black pepper), olive oil (for this dish, I recommend the very smooth Mina Moroccan olive oil) and a fairly runny honey that it will cook in first before placing the couscous. The couscous will also cook directly in the pot a bit later.  

DSC_4658

You’ll need something that’s not too shallow or not too deep, and definitely something that’s completely oven safe. I use the stainless steel Calphalon pans because they can go right from stove top to stove.  You could also use a large tagine for this dish, which would actually be quite perfect.  Just add them to the pan directly and combine.

DSC_4676

Rub a whole chicken (or a whole one cut up) around in the mixture (olive oil, honey, cinnamon and ginger, sea salt, and the

Roast Chicken with Couscous, Raisins, Apricots, Dates & Almonds (Djaj M'Ammar Bil Kesksou)
Serves 4
An aromatic mixture of sweet and savory North African ingredients makes this dish unique and delicious. Substitute prunes or dried figs for fruits you may not have that are called for in this recipe.
Print
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
For the Chicken
  1. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  2. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  3. 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  4. 1 teaspoon sea salt
  5. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  6. 2 tablespoons honey
  7. 1 whole chicken or one chicken cut up (about 3 pounds each)
  8. For the Couscous
  9. 1+ 3/4 cup couscous
  10. 1 + 3/4 cup water
  11. 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  12. 1 teaspoon cane sugar
  13. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  14. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  15. 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
  16. 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  17. 1/2 cup raisins, prunes, dried apricots, dates (each or a combination of all)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. To an oven-safe dish or pan, add the olive oil, lemon juice, ground cinnamon and ginger, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and rub it around it the spice and oil mixture.
Roast in the oven for 50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the couscous
  1. To a large dish add the couscous, the water and salt. Let it sit for about five minutes. Once the couscous has fluffed up, add the remaining ingredients (sugar, olive oil, ground cinnamon and orange blossom water).
  2. Flip the chicken, if desired. If not, let it cook for an additional 10 minutes.Add the couscous mixture all around the chicken. Add a few pats of butter on top of the couscous. Cover with a lid or foil and return back to the oven for 30 minutes.
  3. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.
Adapted from Arabesque by Claudia Roden
Adapted from Arabesque by Claudia Roden
Yvonne Maffei https://myhalalkitchen.com/
 

” data-wplink-url-error=”true”>black pepper). Toss it around and be sure you get the whole thing covered up. Add about 1/8 cup of water to the pan, too. This will help prevent burning or drying up of any of the ingredients. 

chicken in honey and spices

The directions I’ve read all say to cook the chicken breast side down so that it stays moist and you can flip it later to brown it. I know, chickens look so funny in the pan, don’t they?

cook breast side down

The problem I have with that is that the skin usually rips off and it doesn’t look presentable. What I do instead is cook it the whole time, breast side up, but I cover it during the last 40 minutes of cooking. Comes out great- super moist and it’s nice and browned all over. I’ve done it both ways, which you might notice here.

chicken in oven

So, while the chicken is cooking, prepare the couscous by adding water and salt to it.

DSC_4688

Let it stand for about 5 minutes so it can thicken. I love how quickly and easily this happens! You can sort of tell it’s ready for more by fluffing it up with a fork. That’s when it’s ready to have the other ingredients added to it, before it goes into the pan with the chicken.

DSC_4698

 Like the olive oil

DSC_4699

 And cinnamon, sugar, orange blossom water.

DSC_4703

And you can’t forget about the mixture of dried apricots, prunes (or raisins), and dates. 

couscous with dates, apricots, plums and citrus zest

The almonds, sautéd in butter, is probably my favorite part- it’s what truly adds all the flavor. So, sauté the almonds in butter for about 2-3 minutes, watching carefully so they do not burn.

cooking almonds in butter

Pour onto the couscous mixture.

add almonds to couscous

Add a little fresh or dried citrus zest, if you have it. I think it makes a difference.

add citrus zest

Leave this aside until the chicken cooks for a full 50 minutes.  Flip the chicken (if you decide to be a flipper), and cook for an additional 10 minutes before adding the couscous. 

roasted chicken

Now place the couscous in the pan around the chicken. Add several pats of butter to the couscous. 

put pats of butter around couscous

And cover with a lid or foil. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes at the same temperature.

cover with a lid and continue roasting

In this picture you can see what happened when I flipped the chicken, as the skin is coming off. Still good, still moist, though. 

Everything is so nice and browned. You can even cover the wing tips with foil if you don’t like them browning more than the rest of the chicken, or you can tuck them to the inside of the bird with bakers twine. 

horizontal final product

Smelling this dish was an experience in and of itself. The cinnamon, the apricots, the citrus- they provided my kitchen with the most pleasant aroma it’s had in quite some time.

up close in pot

You can serve directly in the pan, which is nice and rustic, however, if you decide to plate it nicely and neatly that’s great, too. It all comes out so softly. What, with all that butter?

DSC_4596

Roast Chicken with Couscous, Raisins, Apricots, Dates & Almonds (Djaj M'Ammar Bil Kesksou)
Serves 4
An aromatic mixture of sweet and savory North African ingredients makes this dish unique and delicious. Substitute prunes or dried figs for fruits you may not have that are called for in this recipe.
Print
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
For the Chicken
  1. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  2. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  3. 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  4. 1 teaspoon sea salt
  5. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  6. 2 tablespoons honey
  7. 1 whole chicken or one chicken cut up (about 3 pounds each)
  8. For the Couscous
  9. 1+ 3/4 cup couscous
  10. 1 + 3/4 cup water
  11. 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  12. 1 teaspoon cane sugar
  13. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  14. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  15. 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
  16. 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  17. 1/2 cup raisins, prunes, dried apricots, dates (each or a combination of all)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. To an oven-safe dish or pan, add the olive oil, lemon juice, ground cinnamon and ginger, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and rub it around it the spice and oil mixture.
Roast in the oven for 50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the couscous
  1. To a large dish add the couscous, the water and salt. Let it sit for about five minutes. Once the couscous has fluffed up, add the remaining ingredients (sugar, olive oil, ground cinnamon and orange blossom water).
  2. Flip the chicken, if desired. If not, let it cook for an additional 10 minutes.Add the couscous mixture all around the chicken. Add a few pats of butter on top of the couscous. Cover with a lid or foil and return back to the oven for 30 minutes.
  3. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.
Adapted from Arabesque by Claudia Roden
Adapted from Arabesque by Claudia Roden
Yvonne Maffei https://myhalalkitchen.com/

This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. MyHalalKitchen.com is a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Please see my affiliates disclosure page for more detailed information about the companies with who I am affiliated. 

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Salaam!
    Looks good! Can I substitute rice for couscous and follow the same recipe? Or using the rice will require some modification?
    JazakAllah
    Hina

    1. Wa’alaikum as salaam Hina- the rice would need to be par-boiled at least, and depending on the variety I really couldn’t say for how long but that would be a nice option, too!

  2. I just saw this reprinted in the NYT & the nutritional info says 1681 calories per serving with 96g fat (27 saturated). Wha??!! Is that true? Trying to figure out how or if it is…

  3. Made this recipe after reading about a similar one on NYTimes… this recipe was perfect!! subbed orange extract for the blossom water, cooked it breast up. 5lb bird took about 1.5 hours and turned out excellent. Even with all the food, there were no leftovers in my family of 4.

  4. I want to make this recipe but with pigeons instead of chicken. Could you send info on this as a recipe for pigeon please?

  5. This sounds amazing! I have a couple of questions though:
    1. Do you think this would work well with cornish hens? Just to make it more Ramadan friendly for guests.
    2. When cooking the chicken initially, did you cover with foil?

    Thanks in advance! Ramadan Kareem to you and your family!

    1. Yes, I think it would work really well with cornish hens. I just find them difficult to find dhabiha halal which is why I didn’t include them in the recipe but they are a favorite in something like this! And yes, you can cover with foil that would be good- just be sure to remove the foil at the end for about 10-15 minutes to let the bird get a little crispy on the outside.

  6. I found this originally on the NYTimes cooking website and wanted to check it out here–absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it! I look forward to reading your other recipes.

  7. Can the couscous be substituted with quinoa(for gluten-free), which changes would have to be made? Will also be using 4 pounds of chicken legs and thighs.

    Thanks! Looking forward to trying!

Get the latest updates & lots of FREE goodies!

Subscribe To My Quick Bites Newsletter

By signing up, you’ll be notified when new recipes and other tasty treats are cooked up in my kitchen!