Rabat – If you have not had a chance to travel back with a tagine pot from your trip to Morocco, order, borrow, or ask a Moroccan friend to send one immediately. Once in your possession, you can use it to prepare Moroccan delights instead of reminiscing about them whenever you hear the word Morocco!
As Moroccan cuisine forms a key part of Moroccan culture, you must explore its food if you wish to develop a comprehensive understanding of its culture.
It might sound complicated to think about cooking Moroccan food given the complex presentation of many Moroccan dishes.
Testing a Moroccan recipe, however, won’t hurt as it might seem. Whether it mirrors the original plate merely depends on you and how much love you put into your tagine.
Although Morocco’s cuisine includes many famous tagines, the beef tagine with dried plums is arguably one of its A-list dishes.
If you are a sweet tooth, you will fall in love with the dish, as it simultaneously combines sweet and salty flavors to create a complex and rich taste.
Note: making tagines with a pressure cooker is also possible. Suggesting cooking the dish using a tagine pot is, however, inevitable, as it makes everything delicious.
Make it like a Moroccan:
Ingredients are simple and most of them are used in everyday dishes. The only missing detail might be the dried plums, which you will easily find in either a store specializing in dried fruits or in big supermarkets.
½ kilograms of veal or mutton meat (you can add more if you are inviting several meatatarians).
2 chopped big red onions
6 fresh peeled cloves of garlic
½ olive oil teacup (using that much because we are giving up the cooking oil).
Pinch of black pepper powder
Pinch of ginger
Pinch of turmeric
2 pinches of salt (could be more depending on your preference)
Pinch of saffron
50 grams of dried plums
50 grams of almonds slices (toasted)
1 teaspoon of orange blossom water
1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
1 small spoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of honey
Doing it is simple
The artistic way Moroccans present their dishes might make you believe that it is complicated to prepare tagine. As a Moroccan, however, you have my word that it is not an arduous project.
Put your tagine pot on medium heat, where you will place your chopped onions and beef all together. Add some water and half the olive oil. Add salt, black pepper, turmeric, and ginger powder, and scratch your garlic cloves until they become like a paste. I did not include red sweet pepper on the ingredient list, but you can add a pinch for coloring.
Add all of the ingredients on the top of the beef and chopped onions that you already placed in your tagine pot.
Now slowly stir all the ingredients until you cover the meat with the spices. When the meat’s color turns white-ish due to the heat, add a half cup of water and the rest of the olive oil, close your tagine, and lower the temperature.
Make sure to be as close as possible to the kitchen, because you will have to monitor your dish unless you enjoy food with burned flavors — Just kidding!
Meanwhile, take hot water,pour it into a teacup, and add saffron: this is where the magic happens!
The saffron flavor in the hot water adds that wonderful taste whichMoroccan tagine is known for!
Five minutes later, open your tagine and add your saffron water along with the saffron itself before closing it again.
Let us wait until the meat is almost done and the onions are nearly melted but have not completely vanished. Even if you are not a fan of onions, their inclusion in the recipe is of the utmost importance, as onions are the secret ingredient to a great and tasty tagine!
While the meat is being cooked, let us prepare another key element of the iconic, Moroccan tagine.
In another pot, add your dried plums along with the orange blossom water and the cinnamon.
Add water to the pot and let them cook on medium heat. Once you notice that the plums have become soft and little water remains in the pot, add two spoons of honey at a lower temperature and stir until you achieve caramelized pieces of plums.
Make sure to stay close to your stove to avoid burning the plums!. It will take less than five minutes for your plums to get caramelized..
Once the beef is done (you can check with a fork) and your onions are melted, it is time to decorate your plate.
We in Morocco usually keep the food in the tagine pot while presenting the dishes. Others might prefer to place the food on a modern plate, but trust me, it is far more original to eat from the tagine pot.
Once your meat is ready to receive the plums, add them on the top of the meat — you can always arrange them in the center for a traditional Moroccan look!
Place the toasted almond chips on top of your prunes. Pro tip:, you can also use some toasted sesame seeds for extra flavor.
You are also allowed to add the caramelized sauce leftover from the preparation of your plums– just make sure it isn’t burnt.
It is recommended to eat the tagine with some fresh Moroccan bread. I am not going to be picky and make you prepare that one too–you can use any sort of bread. While it will not have the same effect as fresh Moroccan bread, I can assure you that the taste of a well-prepared Moroccan tagine will blow your mind regardless.
Bon appétit!
