Tagine refers to a clay pot used in North Africa and the Middle East. My dish is cooked on the stove in a stainless steel pot in stead of in the oven in a traditional tagine.
Serves approx 8
Ingredients
2 aubergines, diced
2 brown onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 green pepper, diced
150g cherry tomatoes, halved
1.2kg tinned, chopped tomatoes
400g tinned chickpeas
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 thumb-sized piece of garlic, grated
A small handful of sultanas
A heaped tablespoon of chopped green olives
1 small bunch fresh coriander
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of agave syrup
Olive oil
2 vegetable stock cubes
Salt and pepper
Dried Spices
6 cloves
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground fenugrec
1 teaspoon Ras el hanout
1 bay leaf
Method
In a large pan add some olive oil and the onion and cook on a fairly high heat until slightly caramelised. Remove the pan from the heat and then stir in the garlic and ginger, stirring to heat the spices gently. Add the tomato paste, and cook it out, off the heat for a few seconds.
Add the dried spices, then the aubergines, carrot, pepper, fresh and tinned tomatoes, half the bunch of fresh coriander (mainly the stalk end, save the nice leaves to finish the dish of later on), stock cubes, chickpeas, sultanas, olives and then season with salt and pepper.
Add enough water to submerge the vegetables. Bring to the boil then simmer on a low/medium heat for about an hour or so, stirring occasionally. If the tagine needs thickening, leave it on the stove a bit longer. To finish the dish, add the vinegar and agave syrup along with the rest of the fresh coriander, check the seasoning then serve with couscous or bulghour wheat.
