Lamb Chop & Okra Tagine

Salam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullah,

This was my first try at an authentic Tagine recipe, authentic being that i cooked it in the actual Tagine vessel inside the oven and not substituted it with my stew pot on the stove.




Buying a Tagine in the UK can be pricey and although i have been married to my Algerian husband for almost 5years we have just never got around to buying one. So when he saw this terracotta Tagine for a price £9.99!! at T.K.Max he quickly purchased and left the shop! He originally had gone in to buy a jacket.

So for my first attempt at making a Tagine in a Tagine if you catch my drift lol i thought I'd  also try for the first time the vegetable Okra and i can happily say I'm a fan alhamdulillah, although i would say it adds more texture than taste to the actual dish, i would readily use it again and we all know greens are good for you especially the growing baby inside my tummy masha'Allah.

I have to confess my appetite as gone way up in this pregnancy compared to my first 2 and i have no clue why!? Have any of you ever had considerably bigger appetites during pregnancy and what type of things did you graze on throughout the day?

This recipe is my own but inspired by cooking with Alia who i am surprised did not use a traditional Tagine to cook her version in and Chef Osama who used lamb shanks which i didn't have and not enough variation of spices in my opinion so i changed that.

The only thing i would change is the amount of water i used, i put more than enough water to cover the chops and okra but what i should have thought about is liquid doesn't evaporate so readily when cooking inside a Tagine, that is the beauty of the pot it keeps everything moist and succulent alhamdulillah so instead of covering with water i would do as i did with the rest of Chef Osama's ingredients and divide the quantity by 4.  So i recommend you use 1cup and then check half way through cooking (in the oven) if you feel the sauce is too dry then you can add more water/stock in sha Allah

Lamb Chop & Okra Tagine

Serves: 2-3 adults or 2 adults and 2 small children i.e. My Family :)

Ingredients

250g Halal Lamb Chops

Salt and Pepper (i used 1/2tsp salt and 1/4tsp pepper but remember to adjust to your taste)

1-2tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

1/4tsp ground Cumin

1/4tsp ground Coriander

1/4 ground Ginger

1/4tsp ground Turmeric

1/4tsp ground Paprika

1/8tsp ground Cinnamon

1 medium size Onion, chopped

1 large clove of Garlic, chopped

1/4 tin chopped Tomatoes

1/4 cup Tomato Paste

1cup Water/Stock, see the point i made above

250g Okra (ends removed and cleaned)

1/2tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

1 large clove of Garlic, chopped

1/4tsp ground Coriander or 1/4tsp finely chopped stems of Coriander

X amount of fresh Coriander leaves (for garnish)

Method

1. Heat Oil in a pan over medium/high heat, add meat and spices including salt and pepper, brown meat on all sides, remove from pan and set aside. Saute onions until translucent, add garlic and cook for 1 minute more then add meat.


2. Pour chopped tomatoes, puree and water/stock over the meat and bring to boil. Turn heat down so the stew simmers and leave for 30 minutes.


3. Pre-heat oven to 180degressC, chop ends off Okra and clean well in cold water.


4. Add Okra to the pot, check for seasoning and bring to boil. Transfer contents to a Tagine, cover and place in the oven for about 30minutes(do not forget to check the sauce half way through and add more water if necessary)


5. Heat remaining oil in a small saute pan and fry garlic for 2 minutes, add coriander, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute more. Pour over Okra casserole and return to oven for 10minutes.


6. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve over warm rice.