A sweet and melting inauthentic lamb tagine

Little ones are big fans of savoury and sweet combinations and I for one am with them there. This tagine includes a lovely sweet hit from the caramelised onions and apricots. My sons weren’t big on rice when very young so I served this with strips of flatbread or breadsticks. It also freezes very well. I use my slow cooker to save on energy bills but you can cook it in a tightly lidded casserole dish on your oven’s lowest setting.

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

200g lamb shoulder, cut into 3 cm chunks

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 tablespoons groundnut or sunflower oil

1 tablespoon caster sugar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

400g tinned chopped tomatoes

40g dried apricots, quartered

30g sultanas

METHOD

Mix all the spices together in a large bowl, add the lamb and toss to cover. In a large frying pan over a low heat, fry the onion in the oil and sugar until the onions start to catch at the edges and caramelise. Tip the onions into your slow cooker or casserole dish. Turn the heat up under the frying pan and fry the spice-covered meat for 5 minutes until browned all over. Tip the lamb in with the onions and also add the garlic, tomatoes, apricots and sultanas and cook in the slow cooker on low or in the oven at 140°C for 5 hours, until the lamb is soft and falling apart.

Serve with cous cous, rice, tortilla wraps or carrots for dipping. This is especially loved by babies in puréed form.

IDEAS FOR DRIED APRICOTS

Add 80 g of chopped dried apricots and 1 teaspoon dried tarragon to scones for an unexpected flavour combination. Or steep in fresh orange juice and 1 tablespoon of honey overnight and add to Greek yoghurt and granola in the morning. Or, frankly, I use them in the chocolate tiffin every time!

#normalmum #tagine #lamb #apricot