Kdras are a specialized form of tagine, cooked using the "preserved" butter called smen, and highlighted by the use of onions cooked down to a buttery consistency. Kdras are spiced well with pepper and saffron, and their rich sauces are cut at the end of cooking with a bit of lemon juice.

 

According to Paula Wolfert, classic kdra cooking does not include ginger. But "in Rabat and Marrakesh and in the north this strict constructionist view is usually ignored."

 

The following recipe does ignore that "rule." If you want, you can leave out the chickpeas and double the almonds, which will bring it even closer to the pollo en salsa almendra con canela we were discussing in the Iberian foroum.

 

Smen is not a flavor that appeals to the western palete. Best bet is to use salted butter instead, which is what I specify.

 

 

1 cup whole blanched almonds

1/2 cup dried chickpeas soaked overnight

1/4 tsp pulverized saffron mixed with a pinch of tumeric

Salt to taste

1 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 lg cinnamon stick

3 tbls salted butter

1 chicken, 3-3 1/2 lbs, quartered, or equivilent in thighs and legs

2 Spanish onions, quartered lengthwise anc finely sliced

4 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Juice of one lemon

 

In a saucepan, cover the almonds with cold water and simmer, covered, at least two hours until they are soft.

 

In a separate saucepan, cover the drained chickpeas with fresh cold water, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, an hour. Dain the chickpeas and submerge them in a bowl of cold water. Rub them to remove the skins.

 

In a warm casserole dish, or Dutch oven, combine half the saffron with the salt, spices, butter, and chicken pieces. Cook over low heat, without browning, for 2-3 minutes. Chop four or five of the onion slices fine and add to the casserole with the stock. Bring to a boil, add the drained chickpeas, and simmer 30 minutes, covered.

 

Add the remaining sliced onions and chopped parsley and continue cooking 30 minutes more, or until the chicken is very tender---practically falling off the bone). Transfer the poultry to a warm serving dish. Reduce the sauce by boiling rapidly, uncovered, until it forms a thick sauce.

 

Drain the almonds and add the sauce, along with the remaining saffron. Cook together a minute or two and spoon sauce over the poultry. Sprinkle with lemon juice to cut the richness of the gravy.

 

thanks for posting!

 

That's one of the reasons I decided to post it, Ron.

 

One problem we all faced, learning history in school, is that it's taught in isolation. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And in 1492 the Moors were expelled from Spain. We learn them as two separate events, and are never taught the inter-significance those two events had.

 

It doesn't work that way with food. Moorish cuisine didn't suddenly cease at the expulsion. It just went off in several directions: adaptations of one kind on the Spanish mainland, adaptations of another in North Africa. But its easy to see how  the pollo con salsa etc. of Spain, the chicken kdra of Morocco, and even the Istanbul Pilavi of Turkey share the same roots.

 

Given your interest in foods of the common folks, and how they varied household to household, really typifies this. The best we can hope for is to prepare a dish "in the style of," or "in the mode of."

 

But it's nice to know, as much as possible, the influences that determined that mode.

 

I wish to mention that the Moorish influence in Andalusia, especially Cordóba and Granada and throughout coastal Barcelona, Extremadura, Sevilla and Murcia, and Mallorca, the penchant for combining fruits with fish or meat or poultry are still very common. These particular areas, have huge seaports and la sierra with Ancient hilltop castles from the Reconquest Era to this day --- many are now restored Parador Network Hotels owned by the Govt.

 

Cinammon and saffron also hail from the near eastern countries, such as Pakistan, Persia, Siria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Greece ( a large Saffron grower ) AND EGYPT ... ONCE all these countries herded up and headed west to Sicilia and Spain ... and via ships ... They called them the MOORS AND THEY INVENTED THE NEEDLE in Spain, and brought cotton ... Then, the Carthegians from North Africa, so it was several tribes ...

Happy Easter.

Margi.

 

Brook,

 

1492: it is also interesting that in THE  USA, they celebrate Cristobál Colón´s discovery because he had never been in the USA. El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic ... and I had not known about the Inquisition until I took University Spanish intensives in Mexico and Uruguay.

 

The USA Educations System is quite protectionistic on Spain, as you know ... Many bloggers had no idea, that Spain was not in Mexico !

 

Thanks for post.

Margi.  

 

You mean it's not?