Slow-cooked sweet and savoury lamb tagine

I recently had the good fortune of being gifted a slow cooker, but I hadn’t used it yet, as I felt that it would be more useful to make warming stews in the winter. But it came to a point where I couldn’t bear to see it sitting idle. Why shouldn’t I make a stew in September? My good friend from university is currently staying with me for a few days, and he suggested making some sort of tagine. After some Internet research and a trip to the Arabic shop, we came up with this – a divine creation that needs hardly any preparation and tastes like heaven!

Serves 3-4 people. Time in slow cooker: 9 hours

In slow cooker:

• ½ lamb shoulder, in pieces (1lb / 450g)
• 2tsp cinnamon
• 1tsp coriander powder
• 1tsp cumin powder
• 1tsp turmeric
• 1tsp rose salt
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 small white onion, 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 500ml beef stock
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
• 1 can chickpeas (400g)
• 1 dozen green olives, halved
• 100g dried apricots, chopped
• 3 tbsp almonds
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp flour

To garnish:

• Yogurt
• Mint leaves

This recipe could not be easier! Marinate the lamb pieces in all the spices (cinnamon, coriander, cumin, turmeric, rose salt).

       

Then throw it in the slow cooker with everything else. Scoop out some of the liquid and mix in a small bowl with the 1 tbsp flour until it’s smooth and add back in. Cook on low heat for 8-10 hours, enjoying the smell that fills the house. Serve with couscous and garnish with yogurt and mint leaves.