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1
Melt the unsalted butter in a tagine or heavy-based casserole over a medium-low flame, then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the paprika, cumin, and ginger and stir them into the butter for one minute, so the heat draws their volatile oils into the fat rather than leaving them as dry powder on the surface. The base is ready when the fat runs red-orange and the spices smell fully bloomed — raw and floury notes are gone.
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2
Season the chicken pieces with salt and lay them in the Mhammer base, turning to coat each piece. Add enough water to come one-third of the way up the meat, cover, and braise over a low flame, turning the pieces once, until the meat is cooked through and beginning to pull from the bone — a gentle braise rather than a boil keeps the sauce from becoming greasy and lets it reduce to an amber-red coating consistency. Judge by touch: the thigh meat yields readily when pressed and no resistance remains at the bone.
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3
While the chicken braises, heat the clarified butter in a small frying pan over a medium flame and add the whole blanched almonds in a single layer, shaking the pan frequently, so each almond colours evenly and none scorches while its neighbours stay pale. Fry until they are a uniform golden-amber throughout, then remove immediately to a plate lined with absorbent paper — almonds carry residual heat and will continue to colour off the flame, so pulling them a breath early keeps them from tipping bitter. Pale almonds will taste chalky in the finished dish.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies: in the final 10 minutes of cooking only, drizzle the thyme honey evenly over the chicken and sauce, then turn the pieces once to distribute it, so the honey dissolves into the already-reduced sauce and forms a glossy glaze rather than scorching to bitterness against a pan that has been dry too long. Finish immediately with a pinch of flaky sea salt to heighten the honey's presence and prevent the sauce reading as flat. The sauce is ready when it is glossy, amber-red, and coats a spoon with a sweet-savoury sheen, showing no separation of butter.
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5
Scatter the fried almonds over the chicken in the tagine, steam the couscous separately, and arrange it around the base of the serving vessel so the grains at the perimeter can begin to absorb the amber sauce as you spoon it over both meat and couscous. Serve at once before the almonds lose their crunch.