Harissa-honey chicken and pearl couscous
The dates go into warm water first, which is the difference between chewy and molten.
At a Glance
Story
Soak the chopped dates in warm water for ten minutes before they go anywhere near the pan. Dried dates hold their shape in a sauce and turn up as sweet chewy lumps; rehydrated ones collapse into the romesco and thicken it, so the sweetness runs through the whole dish instead of ambushing you in three separate bites.
Ingredients
- 10 oz chicken breastcut into bite-size pieces
- ½ cup pearl couscous
- 1 ½ tbsp harissa paste
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 oz Medjool datespitted and roughly chopped
- 2 carrotshalved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 2 scallionsthinly sliced, whites and greens kept apart
- 3 tbsp romescojarred is fine
- ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Two marinades running at once, both of them ten minutes, both of them doing more work than they look like they are.
- Salted water on to boil. Chop the dates and cover them with ½ cup warm water. Leave at least 10 minutes.
- Whisk the honey, harissa and a drizzle of oil in a large bowl. Add the chicken, season, stir to coat and leave at least 10 minutes.
- Couscous into the water, 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pot.
- Medium nonstick pan, oil, medium-high. Carrots and the white parts of the scallions, seasoned, 5 to 6 minutes, until browned and giving. Tip them into the couscous with a little oil, stir and cover. Wipe the pan.
- Same pan, oil, the marinated chicken in one layer, undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, then stirring another 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Off the heat, add the drained dates and the romesco and stir.
- Loosen the yogurt with a tablespoon of water and season it. Couscous into bowls, chicken and all its sauce on top, yogurt spooned over, scallion greens last.
The yogurt is not a garnish. It is the cold sharp thing the harissa needs, so be generous with it.
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