Kumara, Date & Almond Tagine
Overview
- 105 min
- Serves 4
- Medium
Keep for later
Ingredients
Tagine
1kg kumara* scrubbed and chopped 3cm
2-3 tsp each cinnamon, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, sweet paprika and cumin seeds
A thumb’s worth of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Sea salt and cracked pepper
Olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
A handful of select dates, roughly chopped
700ml vegetable stock
½ cup (50g) ground almonds
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 cups chickpeas, cooked**
*Any variety of kumara can be used, or whole scrubbed yams are a great option for this dish.
** Chickpeas – soak overnight in a bowl with 5 cups of water. Rinse and place in a pot with plenty of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook till tender, 1.5 – 2 hours.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a roasting dish, combine the kumara with the spices, ginger, a brave seasoning of salt and pepper and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Spread out in an even layer and roast for about 35-40 minutes, until the kumara is lovely and caramelised, and cooked through.
In a large, lidded casserole or large cooking pot, over a medium heat, add a glug of olive oil, let it heat up and gently cook the sliced onion for about 10 minutes until soft and golden brown, then follow with the chopped dates and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the dates have softened. Add the roasted kumara with the scrapings from the pan, the stock, ground almond, carrot and chickpeas, stir well, cover and cook for about 25 minutes. Season well to taste.
Whip up some couscous (1 cup couscous to 1 cup boiling water cover and leave for 5 minutes, will make enough for 4 serves), then flavour with a generous amount of butter, a bit of chopped coriander, some toasted cumin seeds and fluff with a fork.
Serve Tagine with the couscous and scatter over the flaked almonds and the coriander leaves This reheats well, so cook in advance if you fancy.
Ideas to make more of the dish
Use as a filling for a pie
Add several lightly beaten eggs to the cold mix and fry off dollops as fritters, excellent with a bit of spiced yoghurt.
Dietary Glossary