Moroccan Lamb Tajine Recipe- How to make best Lamb tajine.

Lamb Tajine is my favorite Moroccan dish. During my private tour of Fes, I asked my tour guide if she has her own special Moroccan lamb tajine recipe that she can share with me. “Tajine is easy, just pan fry lamb with onion and garlic, add water, salt, pepper, turmeric, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, and a little bit of saffron. Cook until meat is tender and done. Oh, prepare the meat couple of hours in advance, just cut it and mix in a bit of salt.” I took some notes and a year later cooked tajine. I’ve made some modifications to this two sentence recipe. I’ve substitute water with vegetable broth and it came out delicious. I cooked it again and it came out even better.

Moroccan Lamb Tajine recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 lb. lamb cut into pieces( 1-2 inch squares)
• 4 table spoons olive oil
• 4 cup vegetable broth
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
• 10 dried apricots( or plums)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion(1 large onion)
• 1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3  teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/3 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 teaspoon cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick)
• A pinch of saffron
• 1-2 teaspoons of salt
   
  Optional:
• 2 teaspoons ginger (sliced or minced)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Moroccan lamb tajine cooking instructions

1. Combine lamb with salt, mix well and let sit for an hour or two. You can even leave it overnight in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
2. Heat 2 table spoons of olive oil in the large frying pan and cook lamb until lightly brown for couple of minutes from each side. You might need to split the meat and repeat this process couple times. Once meat is ready, set it aside.
3. In an oven-safe pot heat the rest of the olive oil, add onion and garlic, cook until golden.  Oven-top safe tajine pot or Dutch over work the best, but any oven-safe pot will work.
4. Add vegetable broth, bring it to boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.
5. Add spices, tomato paste and ginger, mix well, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the spices and mix well.
6. Add lamb to the pot, mix and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat  and cook on medium about 1 hour.
7. Add dried apricots or dried plums(or both) and cook for 30 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Moroccan lamb tajine serving suggestions

Serve with fresh parsley or cilantro, sliced almonds  over rice, quinoa or couscous.