I made this to test it as a possible dish to take to a Family Celebration coming up soon. The dish needed to be something I could easily reheat as we have to travel for an hour to get there! It is really delicious and an inexpensive dish for a family dinner. We had it one night as a vegetarian dish and the next night I added some Middle Eastern flavoured minced lamb meatballs which also worked well. I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on top as a garnish but it was so nice we added more and mixed it into the dish. It seems a lot of white pepper but it was fine - not too hot. Use Agria potatoes - they are household favourites!
Instead of a casserole dish (make sure it is one you can use on a cook top). I used my large wide deep pot (fabulous for this sort of cooking) as I did not think it would all fit in my Tagine. I am also nervous about heating oil in my Tagine to fry anything as the blurb that came with it advised not to. (The Tagine was a gift from very dear friends and a precious item in my kitchen!).
Tagine of Spiced Root Vegetables
– by Kate Fraser (as heard on Nine-to-Noon 22/6/2009
Spicy Base
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion – cut into large dice
2 tsp each of smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander
1 tsp each of chilli powder & ground white pepper
Vegetables
2 medium sized carrots
2 medium sized parsnips
1 medium kumara
6 medium sized waxy potatoes
About 700ml vegetable stock (or water with a little salt)
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Garnish
Lemon zest
2 tbsp coriander leaves
Method
Heat oil in tagine base or casserole dish, add diced onions
and all the spices, stir to combine
Reduce heat and cook gently until onions soften – about 6
minutes
Peel the vegetables and cut into roughly same sized chunks –
about 4cm. Add to the spice mixture and stir to cook for a few minutes until
the vegetables are coasted. Add stock or water and salt and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat, add lemon juice and simmer for about 40-50
minutes or until vegetables are tender. There should be enough thickened liquid
to provide a sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Serve with Garnish, and rice or a grain (Quinoa or Couscous)
or with roast lamb or poached chicken breasts or what-ever suits. Serve if
desired with a Syrah or Reisling wine.
