Lamb Tagine

A quick and tasty tagine

Ingredients

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1½ tbsp paprika
• 1½ tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 x shoulder of lamb, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2in chunks (about 1.1kg/2½lb meat in total)
• 2 large onions, grated
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 115g/4oz dried apricots, cut in half
• 55g/2oz medjool dates, cut in half
• 55g/2oz sultanas or raisins
• 85g/3oz flaked almonds
• 1 tsp saffron stamens, soaked in cold water
• 600ml/1 pint lamb stock
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 150C.
2. Rub half of the spices about the meat and preferably leave overnight to marinate.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large casserole dish. Add the grated onion and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes.
4. Remove and brown the meat and remove that.
5. De-glaze the frying pan with ¼ pint of tomato juice and put all back into the casserole dish.
6. Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas, flaked almonds, saffron, lamb stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for 2-2½ hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.
7. Place the lamb in a tagine or large serving dish and sprinkle over the chopped herbs. Serve.