Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 quince
1 lemon, halved
2 tbl clarified butter
6 chicken thighs
1 onion, finely chopped
2 1/4 oz natural almonds
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbl honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 TSP ground cumin
Large pinch of white pepper
Large pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 2 oz hot water
Zest of one lemon
Lemon Juice to taste
Directions:
- Peel and halve the quince
- Squeeze lemon juice over and rub into flesh
- Steam quince over a saucepan of simmering water until just tender (20-25 minutes)
- Set aside until cool, then cut into wedges
- Heat half the clarified butter in a large casserole over medium-high heat and brown chicken pieces (5-7 minutes)
- Remove chicken from pan
- Add onion and stir occasionally until golden (5-7 minutes)
- Add almonds and cinnamon and stir occasionally until toasted (3-5 minutes).
- Transfer to a plate.
- Heat remaining clarified butter in casserole
- Add honey and cook over high heat until starting to caramelize (1 minute)
- Add quince and turn occasionally until golden (2-4 minutes).
- Set quince aside
- Add spices and white pepper to pan
- Stir to combine
- Return onion mixture and chicken to the pan with saffron water and preserved lemon, and season to taste
- Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and simmer over medium-low heat until chicken is just tender (40-50 minutes)
- Return quince to pan and cook for a further 20 minutes, then season to taste with salt, white pepper and lemon juice, and serve with a pilaf-style rice.