Lamb Tagine
A rich, sticky Moroccan-style lamb tagine sweetened with dates and dried apricots and finished with toasted almonds.
Source
Recipe Info
Servings: 4
Prep: 15m
Cook: 2h45m
Total: 3h
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter, plus a knob extra for the almonds
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 600g boneless lamb shoulder (or goat or mutton), cut into 4cm cubes
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- small bunch fresh coriander
- 200g dates, stoned and roughly chopped
- 100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
Instructions
- Melt the oil or butter in a heavy pan over medium-low heat and cook the onion until soft and golden. Scoop out onto a plate.
- Turn up the heat and brown the lamb well on all sides, in batches if necessary, then set aside with the onion.
- Stir the ground spices into the saffron water and tip into the pot with the cinnamon stick. Cook briefly until fragrant, then add most of the coriander, half the onion, and 300ml cold water, scraping up any bits from the base of the pan.
- Return the lamb to the pan, bring to a simmer, cover tightly, turn the heat down as low as possible, and cook for about 2 hours until the meat is very tender.
- Add the chopped dates and apricots and simmer, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes until you have a thick sauce.
- Meanwhile, fry the almonds in a little butter until toasted. Stir the remaining onion back into the tagine, taste for seasoning, and serve garnished with the almonds and remaining coriander.