* Chicken stuffed with Kuskus and cooked in onion ginger and almond sauce

Ingredients for the Chicken Marinate

2 small whole chickens
2 red onions
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp cardamon powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Salt & pepper
The juice of 1 lemon
½ tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil



Ingredients for the Kuskus

800 gm kuskus
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp sugar
¼ cup almonds pealed, finely chopped and toasted
½ cup raisins
Olive oil
Margarine



Ingredients for the Chicken Sauce

3 red onions sliced
1 tsp garlic chopped
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp paprika
1 bay leave
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup almonds, pealed



Directions

For marinating the chicken, add all ingredients in the food processor and process till all ingredients blend well and get very fine. Leave the mixture to rest to 30 minutes and then bring your clean chicken and start rubbing the marinate all over it inside and out and also under the skin. Leave your chicken to marinate over night.

To prepare the kuskus, we poor it into a large bowl and add some olive oil, we mix it very well with the palms of our hands together to make sure every little piece is covered with olive oil. Add one cup of water and then the salt and repeat the same mixing technique tell the kuskus starts plumping. Poor in the mixture into the kuskus pan and let it steam for about 30 minutes. I didn’t have a kuskus pan so I used just a regular pan and added a tin between the flam and the pan to make sure the heat is very low and it worked fine for me. Now poor the kuskus back into your bowl and add another cup of water, mix with your hands again tell all water is absorbed and then put back on the heat for another 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add some olive oil and some margarine and mix again with your hands. Add all the spices, the sugar, the raisins, the almonds and mix well. Set aside until the stuffing begins.

Bring your chicken out of the marinate and stuff the cavity with your prepared kuskus, stuff it very well and don’t leave any empty spaces inside the chicken, close the downside cavity of the chicken with a tooth pick of two and tie the legs together. In a large pan heat some olive oil and margarine and let it heat very well, put your chicken in the oil margarine mixture on high heat to close the skin and make sure it will retain it’s juices and also to give it a nice golden color. Once the color is golden brown remove your chickens from the pan and add the onions, season and the onions with all spices and leat it tender and caramelized. Add the garlic and then return your chickens to the pan, let them cook for a while with the onions and then add some water, the water should be shallow and not covering the chickens at all. Add the almonds and cover the pan to allow the chickens to cook well and the also to allow the sauce to thicken and have a concentrated flavor.

Now to serve the dish, you should position your chickens in the middle with the sauce around them and garnished with some almonds