Chicken tagine with olives and pickled lemon

1.5kg oven-ready chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
125g purple or green cracked olives, stoned
1 1/2 pickled lemons
50g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
100ml prepared saffron
500ml water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaved parsley

Sprinkle the chicken with half the salt and pepper inside and outside and keep to one side. Blanch the olives three times by plunging them into boiling water. Leave to boil for 30 seconds, rinse and repeat these two steps twice more. Change the boiling water each time. Drain the olives, leave in a colander.

Remove and discard the flesh and pips from the pickled lemons. Rinse the peel and dry with kitchen paper, then cut in large slices. Keep aside in a small dish.

Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy saucepan, add the onion and fry gently, stirring frequently until softened and translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, saffron, the remaining salt and pepper and water. Stir well. Add the chicken and turn it over to coat it with the sauce.

Bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook slowly for 1 hour, turning the chicken over several times so that all sides soak up the sauce. (Add a little hot water if necessary during the cooking.)

Add the olives, pickled lemon, coriander and parsley, stir, cover and cook for 15 more minutes. Check the seasoning. Once chicken is cooked, if the sauce is too runny, remove the chicken and keep it aside, covered with foil to keep warm. Raise the heat and boil the sauce for 5 minutes to reduce it.

Put the chicken in the warmed tagine plate. Arrange the pickled lemon strips and olives on top. Stir the sauce and quickly pour over the chicken. Cover the tagine dish and serve very hot.

From 'The Momo Cookbook: A Gastronomic Journey Through North Africa' by Mourad Mazouz (Simon & Schuster, £25)

Sommelier's choice

Grüner Veltliner 'Alte Setzen' Huber 2007

£12.99 Oddbins (£10.39 as part of a mixed case of 12 wines)

Ripe fruit and spicy notes in this stunning Austrian wine complement the ginger and herbal notes in the dish.