Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds

This meal was inspired by a visit to Marrakech - a Moroccan restaurant in North Adelaide. We ordered the lamb tagine with prunes and almonds and I was blown away. I vowed that I would find a recipe and make it. The result - almost identical to my meal at the restaurant.

This recipe does use the pressure cooker and tagine, however you can use a slow cooker and oven. The slow cooker will require 4 hours on high of cookinhg time and then transfer to the oven to have the same effect as the tagine.

Ingredients

500g diced lamb
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Handful of fresh coriander, tied into a bouquet
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Ras el Hanout
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
1 cinnamon quill
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Handful blanched almonds

Prune Syrup
150g pitted prunes
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method

Add generous amount of olive oil to pressure cooker. Heat up oil until the oil starts to smoke.
Add in meat and brown.
Add in all spices, and garlic. Stir until the meat is coated.
Add white wine, water, coriander bouquet, chicken stock powder and cinnamon quil. If the liquid has not covered the meat, add more water.
Place lid onto pressure cooker and cook for 15 mins. After, add in onions, season with salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 mins on high pressure.
Meanwhile, add prunes to a saucepan and cover with water. On a medium heat, cook for 10-15 mins, or until prunes are soft.
Once cooked, drain and place prunes back into saucepan.
Add some broth from the lamb stew into the saucepan, until prunes are covered. Add honey, sugar and cinnamon. Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens.
If you own a tagine : Preheat tagine, adding in lamb and almonds once the tagine has come up to temperature. Cook for a few mins and then add prunes on top of the stew, without stirring. Cook for 10-12 mins.
Serve with couscous.