Cooking utensils: tajines, couscousiere; serving dishes and brass teapots, in these pictures are typical of Moroccan kitchen.
Braising lamb shanks and vegetables with a lot of delicate spices are my cooking today. It is the lamb vegetables tajine Susy's style.
Tajine is a stew served with couscous, it is a famous Moroccan dish. Moroccan cooking is a part of my kitchen too.
Tajine means two things, one is a stew, and the other one is the vessel in which the stew is cooked.
The scents of coriander, cumin, saffron, marjoram, and onion mingle with the pungency of olive oil and the sweetness of sandalwood, and mint, delighting the senses. That is why I love Moroccan food.
Couscousiere is a large double boiler with holes in the bottom of the upper pot allowing its contents to steam. I will cook the stew at the bottom of the couscousiere, and then I will steam my couscous on top.
The couscousiere
Recipe for the Stew
Moroccan Lamb Vegetable Tajine / Stew with Couscous
(Susy's Style)
Ingredients:
2 lamb shanks
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| dried apricots and preserved lemons |
The vegetables:
Pumpkin, broccoli, beans, potatoes, broad beans, carrots, cheek peas
1/3 cup raw almonds (optional)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 apricots, 6 dated, chopped
small fresh turmeric, chopped
some saffron
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon dry marjoram
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
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| mild chilli, chopped apricots and dates |
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
Oil to saute
6 cups meat stock/water ( or more than 6)
Salt to taste
1 cup couscous
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemons
4 chopped dried apricots
Chopped fresh coriander, mint or parsley to garnish
Method
In a hot pan, pan-fry the shanks with oil to seal, keep aside
Saute the onion, garlic with oil in the bottom of the couscousiere until soft
Add in the rest of the spices, saffron the water and cook to simmer
Add in the lamb shanks, and cook-bring to simmer again
Continue cooking over medium-high heat for the first half hour, covered
Lower the heat, add in the dates, apricots, almonds and braise for another hour
After that, add in all the vegetables and continue cooking until they are cooked.
The last 10 minutes of cooking time, you can steam the couscous on top
Check the couscous and add some more water if needed,
Add some chopped apricots, preserved lemons in the couscous, at the last 3minutes of cooking
Total cooking: 2 hours and a half approx
To serve: Serve hot.
Place the couscous on a serving dish
Place the stew on a serving Tajine, and place extra broth on a serving bowl
Cooking Susy's Lamb and Vegetables Stew/Tajine with Couscous
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| the spices for the stew |
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| stewing the shanks & spices for the first hour and more |
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| the lamb shanks, veg and spices |
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| cous cous - grain, chopped preserved lemon , appricots |
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| the vegetables for the stew |
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| cooking couscous in the couscoursiere |
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| freshly steamed couscous |
Serving Stew And Cous Cous
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| serving the stew in a tajine |
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| lamb and vegetable tajine, couscous and the broth/sauce of the stew |
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| serving the stew in a tajine, the sauce and couscous in a white tajine |
Moroccan food - the tajine/stew is so flavoursome, and the cooking technique is so simple. Basically, it is a casserole, but it is cooked on top of the stove.
You can cook this dish in any heavy-based pot, you do not need to have a tajine or couscoussier. To prepare the couscous, you just follow the instruction from the packet, it is widespread now that the shops sell instant couscous.
Until next time
Susy
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