Spicy Vegetable Tagine with Ras El Hanout

This week has been absolute madness in the best way possible. I had a wonderful New Year’s Eve at my university friend’s house, and then suddenly all my closest uni friends showed up on my doorstep. Some were planned, some were spontaneous, but somehow we all coincided in London and are having a huge reunion! After the initial hugs and chats and catchups though, I had a big dilemma. How was I going to feed them all?

We were all to be crammed in my small living room to watch the newest episode of Sherlock (which is fantastic, by the way!), and so I needed something that would be easy to do and need minimum time and energy. Then I remembered three things.

1. I have a slow cooker.

2. Spice Kitchen UK sent me an absolutely marvelous collection of spices, including their own blend of Ras El Hanout, which is not yet available to order but which they let me have as a special preview.

3. Everyone loves tagine.

Since 3 of my friends are vegetarian, I went down to the local vegetable shops and purchased a lot of vegetables. I then sent them all away to a museum (the flat was just getting too crowded!), put on some relaxing music and peeled, chopped and mixed everything together. The result was mouthwatering! A special thank you to Spice Kitchen UK for the Ras El Hanout, without which this dish would not have been possible. Look out for its availability soon!

Serves 8 people

• 1 zucchini, chopped into large cubes
• 1 aubergine, chopped into large cubes
• 4 potatoes, peeled and chopped into large cubes
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large cubes
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 1/2 white onion, sliced
• 3 inches ginger, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 can chickpeas (400g)
• 50g almonds
• 3 fresh green chilis, coarsely chopped
• 2l vegetable stock
• 5 tsp Spice Kitchen UK’s Ras El Hanout
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• Yogurt, fresh coriander to garnish

Prepare all the vegetables and put in the slow cooker along with the vegetable stock, the Ras El Hanout, salt and lemon juice. Cook on high heat for about 4 hours, or until the potatoes are done.

  

If you are doing this on the stove top, put in your biggest top and cook, covered, for around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Serve with couscous or flatbread (or both!). Garnish with yogurt and fresh coriander.