Serves 6

1 teaspoon each turmeric, allspice, ground white pepper, cinnamon, ground ginger,
2 large chicken breasts, bone in, skin on and halved crosswise
6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
¼ cup butter
2 cups sliced onions
2 bay leaves
½ cup fresh orange juice
1 cup cooked chickpeas
10 dried apricots, halved

In a small bowl, combine the spices and mix well. Put all the chicken pieces in a large bowl. Add half the spice mix and toss the chicken to make sure it is coated well, massaging the spice mix on the pieces.. Reserve the remaining spice mix. Chill for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

In a large ceramic tagine* over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, bay leaves and reserved spice mix and sauté until the onions soften and the aromatics bloom, about 45 minutes. Place the seasoned chicken in a single layer on top of the onions. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone, about 2 hours.

Combine the orange juice and melted butter and pour over the chicken. Scatter the chickpeas over the top, tuck in the apricots and continue cooking about 30 to 45 more minutes.

Discard the bay leaves. Serve warm with Walnut Yogurt,  Green Sauce and Sultana Sauce (see recipes below).

*if you don’t have a tagine, you can use a large straight sided skillet and top it with a foil conical lid made out of aluminum foil

Walnut Yogurt Sauce 

Makes 1½ cups

1 cup strained Greek yogurt*
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, walnuts, cilantro and cayenne and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

*To strain the Greek yogurt, spoon about 1 1/2 cups into a strainer lined with cheesecloth set over a bowl and let it drain, chilled for 2 hours.

Green Sauce

Makes 1 cup

1 cup parsley leaves
¼ cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
2 garlic cloves
1 grilled serrano pepper, stemmed and seeded
¼ cup grapeseed oil
Kosher salt

In a food processor, pulse the parsley, cilantro, mint, garlic and serrano to a coarse paste. With the processor running, slowly add the oil, adding only as much as needed to create a thick sauce. Season to taste with salt.

Sultana Sauce

Makes 1 cup

1 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon lime zest

In a small bowl, cover the raisins with boiling water. Let rest for 5 minutes to rehydrate the raisins. Drain the raisins, transfer to a food processor and pulse to a puree.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and stir in the raisin puree. Add the lime juice and zest and mix well.