Vegetable tagine has always been one of my favourite dishes – its succulent smell and sweet taste make it a winner in my eyes. That said I have always thought it takes a lot of effort to make and you need to own a tagine dish, which I do not. Since I had way too many vegetables in my fridge waiting for their turn to be put to use, I decided to give it a go and make what I could. I tested the recipe on a few people, they all liked it and even recognised it as vegetable tagine, so I’ll share my recipe.
For the tagine:
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
3 crushed cardamum pods
1 cup of raisins, soaked in water for 10 minutes
4 pieces of stem ginger (about 10g)
1 large red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 small leek
1 butternut squash
1 parsnip
2 medium sized potatoes
1/2 red pepper
250 g cherry tomatoes
1 liter of vegetable stock
2 tbsp coconut oil
Start by chopping all of the vegetables, they don’t have to be finely diced here, rough chunks will do just fine. Now heat the coconut oil in a large pan and add all of the spices, when the kitchen becomes aromatic, add onion and lightly brown it for up to 4 minutes. After you have done that, chuck in rest of the vegetables and crushed garlic, and continue frying them over medium heat constantly stirring to make sure nothing burns. In about 10 minutes add vegetable stock, cover with a lid and let it bubble away for 45 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Let it cool for a bit, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if you wish and serve with cous-cous or quinoa.
