Chicken Tagine with Dates and Honey

I love savoury food with sweet flavours. This tagine is a great example of how great sweetness is with savoury food. The sauce in this tagine is just so luscious and rich. I've made it a few times now and my husband and I both can't seem to get enough of it. I don't have a tagine yet so I've made do with a casserole. Can't wait to make it in a tagine. I'm sure it will taste even better. 

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Recipe from MasterChef Cook Book Season 2.

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Serves 4-6
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
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Ingredients 
3 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoon fennel seeds
12 cardamom pods, seeds removed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4cm piece ginger, finely grated
2 long red chillies, seeded, finely chopped (I only used one)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
2 cinnamon quills
1kg chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 3 pieces
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
10 fresh dates, pitted, chopped
80ml (1/3 cup) honey
35g (1/4 cup) silvered almonds, lightly toasted
Couscous, to serve
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Method
1. Using a pestle and mortar, finely grind the cumin, coriander, fennel and cardamom seeds with the peppercorns and salt. Pass through a fine sieve. 
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2. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof tagine, casserole or heavy based saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes, then stir in the garlic, ginger and chillies and cook for 5 minutes or until soft.
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3. Add the spice mixture, ground ginger, turmeric and cinnamon quills. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes until fragrant. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes each side, turning occasionally, or until light golden. 
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3. Pour in the stock. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Add the dates and honey and cook, uncovered for a further 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spoon.
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4. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced. Return the chicken to the pan and add the almonds. Serve the tagine with couscous.