Lamb
Fragrant mutton tagine
This mutton tagine recipe has a long ingredients list, but you'll probably have many of them in your cupboard. Mutton is a full-flavoured, inexpensive meat much revered in North Africa. You could make the same tagine with lamb and probably knock a few minutes off the cooking time. Serve this over a heap of steaming couscous.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp saffron strands
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
- 800g diced mutton or lamb
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
- 300ml lamb or chicken stock
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 75g dried apricots
- 75g dried prunes
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 50g flaked almonds
- 375g couscous
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- handful coriander or mint, chopped
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Heat the oil in a casserole and cook the chopped onions, saffron threads and garlic over a gentle heat for 5 minutes.
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Step 2
Turn the heat up and add the diced mutton - brown it all over - then add ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, turmeric, and very thinly sliced chilli together with some salt, fry a further couple of minutes before pouring in the stock. Bring to simmering point then cover and cook gently for 1½ hours.
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Step 3
By now the mutton is already tender and the aromas of the stew are mouth-wateringly good. Remove the lid and fold in the diced sweet potato, dried apricots, prunes and ground almonds (this will thicken the sauce), cover and cook for a further 15 minutes.
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Step 4
Fold in the chickpeas, simmer for a further 5 minutes then add lemon juice and adjust seasoning if necessary.
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Step 5
Ten minutes before the end of cooking time, dry roast the flaked almonds in a frying pan for a couple of minutes until golden.
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Step 6
Heat 750ml of water to boiling, pour in 375g instant couscous and cook gently for 1 minute, cover and leave to stand for a further 4 minutes then add olive oil, chopped coriander - or mint - plus some seasoning to taste.
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Step 7
Serve fragrant mutton tagine over couscous in warmed bowls and scatter with flaked almonds.
