Harissa chicken with couscous, yogurt sauce and Moroccan-style salad

Grind cumin and coriander seeds coarsely in a mortar and pestle; toasting is optional since the marinade gets cooked.

Add the smashed garlic and a big pinch of salt and MSG blend; pound to a paste.

Add lemon juice right after the garlic to slow the formation of allicin, then olive oil and harissa paste; taste.

Coat the chicken thighs with half the marinade and reserve the rest. Optionally marinate covered in the fridge an hour to a day, no longer, or the lemon turns the chicken chalky.

Over moderately high heat, once the oil shimmers, sear the chicken to build a crust. Cover with the lid slightly cracked.

Dice cucumbers and tomatoes, and add parsley leaves and red onion for the salad.

For the sauce, combine Greek yogurt, pressed garlic, lemon juice, salt and MSG blend, black pepper, olive oil and chopped parsley.

Cook the chicken to decent browning without needing to cook it through. Remove it.

Rough chop the almonds.

Deglaze the pan with 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, scraping up the browned bits; add raisins to plump. Bring to a simmer, pour in 1 1/2 cups couscous, shut off the heat, stir to an even layer, cover and let sit about 10 minutes.

Optionally soak the red onion slices in warm water to reduce pungency, then add to the salad.

Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Add the chicken drippings, most of the almonds and a little olive oil to the couscous; fluff gently.

Return the chicken and its board juices to the pan with the reserved marinade; cook down until coated and piping hot through.

Dress the salad with olive oil, pepper, salt and MSG and toss. Serve the chicken with the couscous, yogurt sauce, extra harissa and the salad.