Lamb and Fig Tagine
Recipe by Theresa Storey. Serves 3–4. A spiced Moroccan-style lamb tagine with almonds, honey and fresh figs.
Ingredients
| 2 tbsp | 30 ml | olive oil |
| 500 g | lamb (cubed) | |
| 2 | medium onions (finely sliced) | |
| 2 | cloves of garlic (finely chopped) | |
| 1 cm | fresh ginger (grated) | |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | ground cinnamon |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | cumin seeds |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | turmeric powder |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | ground paprika |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | whole black peppercorns |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | coriander seed |
| Pinch | freshly grated nutmeg | |
| 500 ml | water | |
| ½ tsp | 2.5 ml | salt |
| 1 tbsp | 15 ml | tomato purée |
| 110 g | whole blanched almonds | |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | honey or more to taste |
| 4 | fresh figs (cut in half) | |
| ½ | juice of lemon, natural yogurt, fresh chopped mint and fresh chopped coriander (optional) |
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan, then fry the lamb and onions over a medium heat for a few minutes until they are brown and the onions are starting to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the garlic and spices to the pot and stir them through. Fry this for only a minute – just to warm the spices. (It's going to try and stick, so stir well.)
- Then add the water and quickly stir it through.
- Add in the salt, tomato purée and almonds and leave to cook, covered, over a low heat for an hour.
- Add the honey and figs and cook for another 25 minutes or until the lamb is tender and the stew has thickened.
- Taste and add a squeeze of lemon juice if it's sweeter than you like or a bit more honey if you'd like it sweeter.
- Remove from the heat and garnish with yogurt, mint and coriander.