Moroccan Lamb Tagine
This
very meaty dish has been with me since the early 80s.
While living with Sue Hele in Harbledown (on the edge of
Canterbury), her friend Howard, whod been teaching
English in Morocco, came to stay. I lost touch with him
and his partner Najat when we moved to London and then set
off on travels to Asia and Australia, but before then I
acquired a couple of recipes.
This is a version of a Moroccan dish Howard made which 10
years later became a favourite of another Sue while I was
living in London Street in Sydney she hated tofu,
so Im glad there was more to life than bean curd
Traditionally one cooks this dish in the oven in the wide
flat vessel that gives the dish its name: a tagine. Once
cooked, the food is allowed to cool and brought to the table.
Everyone eats from this central dish using bread to scoop
up the food. I tend to cook using a more European style
metal casserole and serve using plates and cutlery. However,
bread remains the best accompaniment (a flat white loaf
from my local Turkish/Cypriot shop is a good option) and
the perfect accompaniment is a special tomato and green
pepper salad I will explain later. The following will serve
a least 4 but just add more bread if there are more
people to feed.
4-6
pieces stewing lamb
5 cloves garlic
1 large onion
Generous pinch saffron stamen
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon red pepper
Carrots
Courgettes
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying
3/4 pint water
Put the oil in the metal casserole and heat. Chop and fry
the onion until it softens and then add the garlic (adding
it a little later in the cooking process preserves the flavour).
Add the lamb and fry for 2 3 minutes, turning regularly
so that the meat is cooked on all its outer surfaces. Add
cumin, pepper, saffron and turmeric and cook for a minute
longer while stirring occasionally. Now add the water.
Cut the Carrots and Courgettes into chunky batons and place
above the stew in layers, radiating from the centre. Sprinkle
with a little salt and red pepper and put the lid on. You
can continue the cooking in a low oven, but Ive found
the results are fine if you leave the casserole on a low
gas on the top of the oven. Either way, cook for around
an hour or until the vegetables have fully steamed and started
to fall apart.
Tomato
and pepper salad
3
large ripe tomatoes
1 large green pepper
1 teaspoon of Cumin
Salt and pepper
Over
a low gas, burn the skin of the pepper while turning regularly.
When charred all over, dunk in cold water and rub the burnt
skin away. Pat the pepper dry with some kitchen paper and
cut into strips.
Cut the tomatoes in half and use a cheese grater to reduce
them to a pulp leaving the skin behind. Combine
with cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl and lay strips of
pepper across the surface.
Serve the tagine and the salad at the same time with plenty
of bread. Fantastic
|