IT’S Saturday and thoughts are turning to whether you enjoy a meal in a restaurant with your significant other, if you could be bothered cooking something fancy or if you just feel like taking the easy road with a takeaway.
I will be the first to admit I enjoy a sneaky takeaway but there are still few things to beat a delicious home-cooked meal. This week’s recipe is a delicious lamb tagine that is the best of both worlds.
Not only is it a hugely popular dish at our house but I always make a big enough batch o that it can be frozen and used as an easy back-up for those evenings when you just don’t have the energy to whip something up after picking the kids up or getting in from work.
We run several curry classes at the Cookery School which are all very popular and the recipes we use are very easy to replicate at home.
And of course, you can’t go wrong with naan bread...
LAMB TAGINE
(Serves 6)
2 tblsp sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
800g shoulder of lamb, boned, trimmed and diced into cubes
25g plain flour
2 tsp ground paprika
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp turmeric
salt
fresh black pepper
400ml tomato passata
8 tomatoes, quartered
2 tblsp fresh flat leaf parsley to serve
A pinch of poppy seeds
Start by preheating the oven to 160C. In a large pot, heat the oil and add the onions and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until golden. Add the lamb and sprinkle in the flour and the spices and mix thoroughly. Cook out, stirring until all the meat is browned – this should take about five minutes.
Add the quartered tomatoes and then the passata with 100ml water. Stir the lamb and put a lid on the pot and reduce the heat. Leave on a simmer until the passata and water have been reduced – if it becomes too dry you can top up with a little more water.
Serve with a pinch of poppy seeds and some of the chopped parsley.
NAAN BREAD
(Makes four-six naan breads)
225g plain all-purpose flour
75g self-raising flour
Pinch salt
1 tblsp sugar
250ml milk
1 tblsp plain yoghurt
1 egg
1 tblsp vegetable oil
1 tblsp nigella seeds
Melted butter for glazing
Mix together the plain and self-raising flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add in the milk, yoghurt, egg and oil and start mixing the flour until it becomes dough-like. Keep combining the ingredients until there is no moisture left.
You should now have a soft dough. Dust your work surface with flour and start kneading the mixture until it feels smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover with cling film or a damp cloth and leave to the side to rise. The dough will rise in size and should be a lot more pliable and elastic.
Divide the dough into six balls; place on a baking tray and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to the side again for another 30 minutes.
You want to have the oven really hot, so turn it up to its highest setting and place a baking tray in to heat up. Make sure you have your extraction fan on. Once the tray is hot, dust the tray with flour. Take your dough ball and press down into a triangle shape and sprinkle over with a little water and the nigella seeds.
Repeat until all dough balls are on the tray. Bake for two minutes and then turn over and bake for a further minute. Brush with a little of the melted butter and serve.
