Island Life October/November 2018

Food & Drink
Ingredients
2kg lamb neck fillets
5 tbsp mild olive oil or
sunflower oil
3 medium onions, cut into
thin wedges
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
large pinch of saffron
2 cinnamon sticks
2 preserved lemons (from a
jar), drained and cut into thin
wedges
300g ready-to-eat dried
apricots
250g ready-to-eat dried
pitted dates
100g shelled pistachios
2 tsp rosewater
25g cornflour
small bunch coriander, leaves
roughly chopped
cooked couscous or basmati
rice, to serve
Persian Lamb Tagine
Method
1. Heat oven to 1800C/1600C fan/
gas 4. Trim the lamb of any hard
fat, cut into chunks and season
all over.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large
flameproof casserole dish and
brown the lamb in 3-4 batches
over a high heat for 1-2 mins
until lightly coloured. Add 1 tbsp
more oil between each batch and
transfer to a bowl each time a
batch is browned.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the
same dish over a medium heat
and fry the onions for 5 mins
or until softened and lightly
coloured.
4. Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander,
chilli powder, turmeric, 1 tsp
ground black pepper and 1 tsp
flaked sea salt. Cook for 1 min,
stirring.
5. Return the lamb to the dish and
add 1.5 litres of water, the saffron,
cinnamon and lemons. Bring to a
simmer, stirring a few times. Cover
with a lid and transfer to the oven.
Cook for 1 hr.
6. Carefully remove the dish from
the oven and stir in the apricots,
dates and half the pistachios, then
cover once more and return to the
oven. Cook for a further 30 mins
or until the lamb is very tender.
7. Transfer the dish to the hob and
adjust the seasoning to taste. Mix
the cornflour with the rosewater
and 3 tbsp cold water, then stir
into the tagine.
8. Cook over a medium heat for
1-2 mins or until the sauce
thickens. (Thickening the sauce
with cornflour isn’t traditional but
helps the tagine to freeze more
successfully.)
9. When ready to serve, roughly
chop the remaining nuts and
sprinkle over the top. Garnish
with coriander and serve with
couscous or rice.
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