Moroccan Chicken Soup with Couscous

1. To prepare the soup, we will start by cutting the chicken into portions and frying it on all sides in 1 tbsp of vegetable oil (I used olive oil) over high heat until golden brown. This will take 5-7 minutes.

2. While the chicken is frying, chop the vegetables. Grate the carrots and celery root on a medium grater, cut the onion into small cubes.

3. Remove the fried chicken from the saucepan, add the second spoon of vegetable oil and fry the chopped vegetables for 10 minutes, stirring.

4. At the same time, add cumin, harissa, and paprika to the vegetables.

5. Return the fried chicken pieces to the pan. Add 1.5 liters of water. Salt the broth to taste and leave to cook for 30 minutes.

6. When the chicken meat becomes soft, take it out of the pan and let it cool down a bit. Add tomato puree, sugar and cinnamon stick to the broth.

IMPORTANT: if you have never used cinnamon in soups or other dishes except baked goods, I advise you to remove the cinnamon 5 minutes after the soup boils, because cinnamon can give a very strong spicy taste to the whole dish, and it may turn out that you do not like the aroma of cinnamon in such a concentration. Let the broth boil again.

7. Take the meat apart into small pieces, remove the bones and skin. Transfer the pieces of chicken pulp to the soup.

8. Add couscous in a thin stream, stirring the broth with a spoon. Cook the soup for another 10 minutes, during which time the couscous will cook and become soft.

9. Finely chop the parsley and mint.

10. Add the herbs to the finished soup. Adjust the taste of the soup with lemon juice and salt. Remove the soup from the heat and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

11. Serve the finished Moroccan chicken soup with couscous in portioned bowls with fresh bread.

12. Enjoy!