The word “tagine” refers to both a North African cooking pot with a conical lid, and the aromatic stew traditionally cooked in it. This North African stew classically incorporates savoury and sweet ingredients to make a complex dish with a spiced sauce. I love this recipe because the dried apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and a sprinkling of almonds toasted in butter provide the sweetness, while the lamb, turmeric, tomato paste, and the bright garnish of herbs and lemon juice gives the stew a lovely savoury and hearty taste. If you don’t have a tagine, the pot, any other large pot with a tightfitting lid works just as well. This is comfort food at its best!
This is what you will need:
- 1½ kg bone-in lamb stewing meat or lamb neck, cut into bite size chunks
- 2½ teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed. If you are not using kosher salt use less than the recipe says.
- 1¾ cup vegetable or chicken stock
- ¾ cup dried apricots
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg (powdered works just as well)
- ⅓ cup fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
This is how:
- In a large bowl, combine the lamb and 2 teaspoons salt. Let the meat rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
- In a small pot, bring the stock to a boil. Remove from heat, add the apricots and let them stew for at least 15 minutes.
- Heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. In a tagine or heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, warm 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat until hot. Working in batches, add lamb to the pot, leaving room around each piece (this will help them brown). Fry until well browned on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Transfer pieces to a plate as they brown.
- Drain fat, if necessary, leaving just enough to coat the bottom of the pot. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add tomato paste, ginger, 1 cinnamon stick and the spices, and cook until fragrant, roughly 2 minutes. Add lamb and any juices on the plate, the apricots and stock, and half the coriander. Cover pot with foil and then its lid, and cook in preheated oven for 2½ to 3 hours, or until lamb is tender, turning it occasionally. (If using a tagine, you don’t need to use foil.) Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
- Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat butter and 1 cinnamon stick over medium heat. Add almonds and a small sprinkle of salt, and cook until golden brown (5 to 7 minutes). Discard cinnamon stick.
- Serve the stew in the tagine pot. Top with toasted almonds and any butter left in the frying pan, spring onions, parsley and the remaining coriander. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice to taste. Serve with flatbread or couscous.
Enjoy!
xxx
Tweaked from a recipe I found on the New York Times Food page.