The preserved lemons that I made over 4 weeks ago are now ready to be used in a new to me recipe - Date and Chickpea Tagine.
1 tspn oil, 2 red chopped onions, 3 grated cloves of garlic, 1 grated thumb size piece of root ginger,
1 tspn cumin, 2 tspn paprika, ½tspn ground cinnamon, ½tspn ground coriander
½tspn of cayenne pepper, 1 tblspn tomato puree, 1 aubergine cut into 2.5 cm cubes,
1 carrot cut into 1 cm half moons, 300g sweet potatoe, peeled, chopped into 1 cm cubes,
2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes,
400g tinned chickpeas rinsed and drained,
300ml of vegetable stock,
200g of whole pitted dates cut in half
2 preserved lemons, peel cut into thin strips
Pinch of saffron, parsley to serve.
Heat oil in a large ovenproof pot over a medium heat. Add onions, garlicand ginger, cook for 5 mins, stiring often. Add all spices and tomatoe puree and cook for a further 5 mins until tender. If the spices stick to the bottom add splash of water. Stir in aubergine, carrot and sweet potatoes, then tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Lastly add the dates, preserved lemons and saffron. Stir, and bring to the boil, Cover pot, transfer to medium hot oven (160℃ Fan) for 40 mins. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with rice, spicey falafels and Greek yogurt dressed with chopped mint.
I was delighted with the intense flavour achieved by the preserved lemons.
That looks, and undoubtedly tastes, a lot better than what I dined on for two weeks when trekking in the Atlas Mountains.
ReplyDeleteYou could be right John, it tasted good.
DeleteWe too have travelled across the Atlas Mountains to the edge of the Sahara, and thought it the most extraordinary landscape. We dined in a Bedouin tent which had wonderful carpets, and sat on big fat colourful cushions. Did you see the sign to Timbuktu which said it was 59 days travel away?
Now this looks quite delicious and given the spices it contains I can imagine flavour. My experience in North Africa is limited to a single visit to Morocco, and I am quite sure that I was not served this dish anywhere. It's a long time ago, however!
ReplyDeleteIt does have lots of lovely flavour David.
DeleteHello Rosemary, There is no chance of my getting all these ingredients together, but ironically, the easiest ingredient for me to buy, whole ginger, is the one I definitely would omit. I have never eaten this dish but it looks pretty good to go with Mediterranean food, minus the ginger, of course. I am especially curious how the flavor of the preserved lemon would blend in.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - delighted with the preserved lemons - they lived up to my hopes - the lemon flavour came through inspite all of the spices.
DeleteWhat a beautiful dish, and of course it comes across with many flavors to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteIt is quite a lot of different ingredients to assemble but worth the effort.
DeleteI love dates, chickpeas and lemons, so I think I'd enjoy this dish!
ReplyDeleteSounds as if it would suit you Debra.
DeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteOf all the places we travelled, the one place I would visit again and again is a certain cafe at a corner of the famous square, where we ate a different tagine each day. On only the second day we were greeted like famous ex pats.
I love your first photograph, what colors!
Dear Gina - the colours certainly give more than a nod to Jemaa el-Fna Square - possibly the most exciting square in the world.
DeleteThat looks and sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteIt has rather a lot of ingredients which takes time to assembly but once that is done it is very easy to make. It made enough for 4 people plus another 4 meals which I have frozen.
DeleteVery exotic and for some reason I immediately thought Moroccan cooking just from the first photo. I have a tin of chickpeas in the kitchen cupboard so that's a start.
ReplyDeleteChickpeas are very nutritious - the falafels are made using chickpeas too.
DeleteI have never eaten dates.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting.
DeleteDearest Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteLove the spice combination. Not sure about those 'salty' lemons but you also had me stare at your photo quite a while. Had you written, serve with spicy falafel balls, it would have been easy to detect your recipe served over a bed of rice!
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette - this is a totally vegan recipe apart from the yogurt.
DeleteYeah Rosemary, vegan food can also contain a lot of sodium... You omitted the word 'balls' in your writing about how you served it. That caused the confusion.
DeleteThat does look delicious Rosemary and I'm the only one in this house that likes lemon.
ReplyDeleteI love lemons - there so many delicious things that you can use them in - lemon curd, lemon merangue pie, salad dressing etc.
DeleteThis sounds delicious, Rosemary, and I have all of the ingredients save the aubergine. My preserved lemons should be ready soon, too. A lovely meatless meal to serve!
ReplyDeleteThe preserved lemons were a great success - I am pleased that something so simple to make imparts so much extra flaour to the dish. The flesh tears away from the peel easily and then you simply thinly slice the remaining peel.
DeleteI think I need to preserve the lemons I grow - they are so precious and to think something as delicious and colourful as your recipe here can come from them is encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI think that you would be really happy the results Betty and they are so quick and easy to make.
DeleteA love tart dishes, so I am sure I would find this delicious.
ReplyDelete💚
DeleteWhat a delicious look.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
💚
DeleteSorry, I’m late. I know tagine pot, falafel, chickpeas, but this dish is quite new to me. It is visually appealing and makes me imagine spicy, exotic taste. You planned well for this dish. Homemade lemon preserve is safe and economical, which I leaned in your old post. To make it more economical, I’d soften dried chickpeas by pressure cooker as I do dried soy beans. I store them in small packages to store in fridge.
ReplyDeleteYoko
It is a very tasty, nourishous dish Yoko, and suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.
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