The first time we cooked this at Castle Farm, we put it in the oven at 9am and headed out for a walk over Hay Bluff on a stunning sunny day. We knew the tagine would slow cook for as long as we wanted which created a degree of smugness as well as culinary freedom. It was such a lovely hot day, we popped into the pub in Hay on Wye for a drink afterwards too. And the tagine? 10 hours cooking, and stunning.
Lamb Tagine
Day before
1.2kg chopped lamb
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp turmeric
Cooking day
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
400g cooked chick peas
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
100g dried apricots
50g raisins
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tin chopped tomatoes
600ml lamb stock
Black olives
Chopped coriander
Mix the spices together in a small bowl then add to the lamb. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
Next day – fry off the onion till golden. Add the second lot of spices and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes and warm through. Tip this lot into a warmed casserole dish.
Brown the diced lamb in the same frying pan and add it to the casserole. Deglaze the pan with some lamb stock and add all these juices to the casserole.
Add all the remaining ingredients except for the fresh coriander, seal it well (lid and foil) and bung it in the simmering oven (140C) for 5 hours or more. If you know you might be cooking it for longer, add a little more liquid before you seal it up.
Sprinkle the chopped coriander over just before serving. Great served with couscous – and a nice glass of something.
