Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Mango

Lannice Snyman explores the classic North African tajine, one of the slowest of the slowly cooked dishes on earth.Say the word “tajine” sexy, slow and sotto voce (in hushed tones) and you’re halfway to conjuring up images of North Africa and the spice-fragrant, oh-so-slow-cooked meat, fish and vegetable dishes of countries like Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Tajines are comforting, friendly, pocket-pleasing and wonderfully forgiving to prepare. Once they’re in the oven they pretty much get on with it while you’re doing something else. Cooking time isn’t watch-the-clock stuff either; you’re aiming for the moment when the meat is falling-off -the-bone tender and all the other ingredients have melted into an intensely personal relationship with each other. And if the tajine remains in the oven a while longer because yet another round of pre-dinner drinks is being quaffed, no-one will be any the wiser.

Tajines are, by nature, fragrant and gloriously spiced, but mildly so, and not often spiked with chilli. Fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits are popular ingredients, as are olives, quinces, dates, nuts and preserved lemon. Lamb, however, is the meat of choice for tajines, with leg, shoulder or knuckles working well. Which makes this dish the perfect partner for the best bottle (or three) of Shiraz that you’ve squirreled away.

The word tajine is derived from the Greek teganon (frying pan), introduced when the Greeks were in North Africa. It refers both to the stew itself and the baking dish it’s cooked in – a glazed clay pot with a flat base and conical cover, designed to allow the steaming cooking juices to condense and trickle back down into the stew. Some tajines are simply layered and baked; I prefer the flavour that comes from browning the meat and onions first. And if you don’t have a tagine, simply use an oven-to-table pot or casserole. A cast-iron potjie is perfect, especially if you cook your tajine over the coals. Eating a tajine is a convivial affair: simply plonk it on the table and invite everyone to help themselves. First choice for serving would be crusty bread (tajine gravy just begs to be mopped up), but couscous, rice and plain mash are good too.

Lannice Snyman is one of South Africa’s most experienced and well-respected food writers. For more recipes like this, see her book Posh Nosh – Fabulous Food for Family and Friends (Lannice Snyman Publishers, 2005).
Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Mango -Serves 6
1kg lamb knuckle
Olive oil
Salt and milled black pepper
2 onions, thickly sliced
250ml beef stock
400g tin whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
2 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
½ t ground ginger
½ t ground cinnamon
400g tin chickpeas, drained
125g sun-dried mango strips
Small bunch mint, chopped
Small bunch coriander, chopped

Heat the oven to 160°C.
Trim the meat of excess fat.
Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and seal the
meat over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan
and place in the base of the tajine (or your
casserole of
choice). Season with salt and pepper.
Add the onions to the frying pan (with a little more oil
if necessary) and fry until golden brown. Place on the
meat. Pour the stock into the frying pan, then add the
tomato, cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon. Stir up
all the brown bits in the pan and season with salt and
pepper. Pour over the onions, cover and bake until the
meat is so tender it falls from the bones. This
should take about 1½ hours, depending on the cut.
Finally, mix the chickpeas, mango and half the mint
and coriander into the sauce, cover and bake for
about 10 minutes more until the chickpeas are hot
and the mango has plumped up nicely.
Whip off the lid, garnish the tajine
with the remaining herbs and serve piping hot.