Monday 9 July 2007

Sathya's First Tagine

Well, I finally joined the gang. The Tagine Gang, that is. Thank you, Laura, Liz and Cath.
I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful Emile Henry cooking item on the weekend.
I quickly messaged Liz to ask her what ingredients I need to make one that day! Her reply was simple. chicken maryland, tinned tomatoes and prunes and vegetables and I should be right.

I did as I was told and when I got home I looked up a recipe I had sent Liz months earlier when she got her tagine. Unfortunately I didn't have everything needed, but it was a good guide, as I had no clue. I came up with what you will find below, and it was yummy!

I have to say, I didn't find as relaxing as I expected a slow-cook recipe to be. I obviously had her too full and she overflowed, leading to burning, which lead to firealarm games. I must admit, I was hungover, so it took me a few times to cotton and and take some liquid out, which I then added later when everything had cooked down.

1 leek, chopped
1 capsicum, diced
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 pieces of chicken Maryland, each cut in half
1 tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp stock/bouillon powder
500ml water
1 cinnamon quill
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
4 garlic cloves, finely diced or crushed
Salt and pepper
200 grams prunes, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 150°C.

On a large plate put the flour and salt and pepper and turn the chicken in the flour mix to coat.

Place the base of the tagine on the stove on high heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Fry the chicken on each side briefly to seal.

Remove the chicken, once sealed, and put to one side.

Add a little more oil in the base and fry the leeks until soft. Add the capsicum, potatoes and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Season.

Add the tinned tomatoes, stock, water and spices and bring to a simmer.

Put the lid on the base and transfer to warm oven.

Cook in oven for 2 - 3 hours stirring occasionally.

Serve with mashed potatoes or couscous, or on its own.


I love the art of slow cooking, and to be fair you could very easily do this in a cast iron pot or casserole dish but the tagine, does somehow make a difference. I am not an expert yet, so I can't say why.

S

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