Dinner for Two....

Pakdokter's maid had to return home to the Phillippines for a month due to the passing of her eldest brother. So pakdokter and partner had to take over many of her duties which we had taken for granted for so many years now.

Pakdokter had bought this 'high-tech' looking tajine from IKEA about two weeks ago and decided to go back to pakdokter's little culinary skills instead of eating out every night.

this is the 'tajine' pot from IKEA'

left over low fire in pakdokter's kitchen

to allow its contents to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes..

'Tajine' is the signature dish from Morocco and the traditional 'tajine' is a claypot utensil that may come in fancy decorative patterns. Pakdokter marinated two pieces of chicken keel with mango and lemon chutneys ( which came from Kerala ), crushed garlic, cinnamon powder, mixed herbs, a few dollops of honey, salt, pepper and splashes of olive oil. For the orange colour, pakdokter threw in a few strands of 'saffron' which pakdokter bought and brought back from Kerala also. And a fistful of fresh dates which had dried up after being left in the fridge since the last Ramadhan month was thrown in for a good measure of Middle Eastern/North African flavour. Pakdokter had forgotten to buy mint and coriander, so they were missing from the dish. And to add an oriental fragrance to it, pakdokter threw in a piece of a star anise and some cumin as well.

a beautiful traditional claypot 'tajine' from Morocco...

Rings of white onions were thrown in as well as quarters of red tomatoes, green and orange paprikas and slices of carrots and orange-coloured zucchinis. Pakdokter also ran out of potatoes at home. And finally a cup of chicken stock was added to the pot which was left to simmer at low fire for about 45 minutes.

a 'tajine' dish from Morocco

this plain claypot 'tajine' is the common ones seen in Morocco..

The result......hmmm....not bad, quite a healthy sweet and sour dish with the fragrance of oriental spices. The chicken was juicy and tender and the marinade brought out a nice taste to the chicken which would otherwise be quite a flat-tasting meat. And the fragrant sauce was mopped up with toasted multiple grain bread....

Preparing the dish did not take more than 30 minutes. But the down-side was that after the meal, pakdokter had to clean up the dishes and stack them up to dry!.....

How pakdokter wished the maid was there........