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Delight Them With This Celebratory-Style Meal This Eid Holiday

Image via the NY Times

A zinger of a salad and a Moroccan chicken dish that’s festive and guest-worthy yet easy to scramble together.
Ramadan may be over but it doesn’t have to mean the end of those delicious recipes you’ve been consistently serving. Delight your family and others with these two dishes from Manzil Downtown Dubai, a sure move to please everyone at the dinner table during the Eid holiday. For starters there’s a juicy Beetroot and Orange Salad, where sweet yet earthy beetroot joins forces with citrusy slices of orange. Drizzled in olive oil and orange juice and topped with fresh mint leaves, it is nutritious and tasty.

Chicken Tagine is a classic Moroccan dish that refers to the shallow clay vessel with a cone-shaped lid the dish is traditionally cooked in. In this recipe, the chicken pieces are braised with herbs, spice, garlic, ginger and onion. Plus, it includes preserved lemons, a traditional ingredient from the North African country that you can make yourself or purchase, and salty, savoury olives.

(P.S. Don’t worry, you won’t actually need a tagine to make it.)

1 of 2
Beetroot and Orange Salad

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 beetroots, medium size
  • 75g rock salt
  • 4 oranges, whole
  • 40ml olive oil
  • 10ml orange juice
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon powder
  • 40 mint leaves
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of black pepper


Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
  2. Double-layer aluminum foil and cut large enough to fit the beetroot.
  3. Put the rock salt on the aluminum foil and place the beets on top of the salt.
  4. Pull the sides of the foil up around the beets. Like a bag, it should be loose but sealed. Place in oven.
  5. Cook the beets for 50 to 60 minutes. Use a skewer or knife to check if done and it should easily penetrated the beet. If it’s still too firm, continue cooking.
  6. After roasting the beets let them cool for easy handling. Peel the beets and cut into strips about 1x1cm. It’s better to wear gloves while handling beets (unless you like purple hands).
  7. Remove the skin of the four oranges with a knife, without leaving any peel or white membrane.
  8. Slice two of the oranges into rounds. Try to get 20 orange rounds, remove seeds if needed.
  9. Cut two oranges into segments without any skin or seeds.
  10. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except for the orange rounds.
  11. Place five orange rounds on a plate and arrange the salad on top.
2 of 2
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1.2kg whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces, skin removed)
  • 25ml corn oil
  • 25ml olive oil
  • 500g yellow onion
  • 1 tbsp. garlic puree
  • 1 tbsp. ginger puree
  • 1 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp. turmeric
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsps. parsley, chopped
  • 2 tbsps. coriander, chopped
  • 1 ¼ preserved lemon, quartered with flesh removed
  • 20 olives, red or green


METHOD:

  1. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper. Heat a nonstick sauté pan and slightly brown the chicken. Remove from pan and set chicken aside.
  2. Place all ingredients except olives and preserved lemons in a heavy bottom. Cover the pot with a lid and cook on low to medium heat. Stir the pot every five – 10 minutes to make sure mixture does not burn.
  3. Cook chicken for approximately 50 minutes. The chicken should be close to falling off the bone. Remove from pot and keep aside.
  4. Finely chop ¼ preserved lemon and add to the pot with the olives. Keep uncovered and stir ingredients.
  5. When the sauce is semi-thick add the chicken and fold into the sauce. If the sauce is too thick add a small amount of water (organic water preferred).
  6. Remove the pot from the stove and serve the chicken in a dish or tagine.
  7. To garnish, quarter the whole preserved lemon, removing the flesh, and place the lemon quarters on top of the chicken.

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