For years I’ve been making this dish, but in Israel stew translates to “tavshil” so I often just announce a tavshil is on the menu for dinner. Thanks to Paula Wolfert, legendary cookbook author, I learned that a stew is refereed to as a “kedra” in Morocco. These stews are often made in deep casserole pots and are brothy in nature. The hardest part of this dish might be buying the ingredients and prepping the chickpeas if you use dry, otherwise this flavorful chicken couldn’t be easier to make. This recipe is inspired by Wolfert’s Chicken Kedra with Chickpeas and Turnips from The Foods of Morocco.
Moroccan Chicken Kedra with Potatoes and Chickpeas
1 cup chickpeas
4 potatoes peeled and cubed
4-6 whole chicken legs or 1 chicken (roughly 3 pounds)
2 onions cut in half, then sliced lengthwise
5-6 cups chicken stock or water
1 teaspoon Moroccan paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
kosher salt
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
chopped-flat leaf parsley for garnish
Directions:
If using dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soak in water overnight, drain and rinse before use. In a large casserole pot on medium heat, heat the olive oil, and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the spices, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and mix. Follow that by adding the washed and clean chicken legs to the pot, along with the chickpeas. Pour in the chicken stock and reduce the heat to low. Cook the chicken and chickpeas for 30 minutes before adding the potatoes. Continue to cook all the ingredients together for an additional roughly 20 minutes, until the potatoes are ready. Taste the seasoning and adjust if needed by leaving on low heat. It’s possible to remove the chicken, chickpeas and potatoes at this stage to a separate plate and allow the juices to reduce, then return to the pot to coat in the sauce. Serve with a dash of parsley on top, and hearty good homemade bread to sop up the broth.
Try a medley of Moroccan salads before your main course.
Blue Kale Road motivated me to make this dish over the weekend. Check out her Chicken and Chickpeas for more recipes top try.
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This is such a beautiful dish. I love the vibrant color from the herbs and spices. Can’t wait to try this. I didn’t know a stew is called a “kedra” in Morocco either. Always good to learn something new when drooling over yummy pictures like these.
Thanks Amy for your sweet words! Lovely to hear. This kedra is a delicious dish, if you can find Moroccan paprika, it’s worth it. Enjoy!
What a warming recipe for a winter evening! I might “cheat” and use canned and rinsed garbanzo beans to make this recipe a quick weeknight dinner. All I need is to find the Moroccan paprika!
The canned beans are great and a good way to save time, I use them as well when in a time-crunch. The paprika does have a different taste, but you can get away with whatever you have on hand to get a sense of the dish. Enjoy!
Wow! This looks so tasty. Love Moroccan food! Thanks for sharing!
Lovely, Orly! You created such a tempting dish and your photos are popping with color. I appreciate you linking to me, too – very sweet of you. And now I’m going to hunt for Moroccan paprika!
Happy to link to you Hannah! The moment I saw your Chickpea and Chicken dish, I could practically taste it in my mind and knew what I was having for dinner. It’s always lovely to share food, especially food made by foodblogging friends. Would be lovely to sit down one day and share a bite together. And I’d be happy to share Moroccan paprika with you!
Oh yes, I do hope we can share a meal sometime (even better if we cooked it together!).