Moroccan Lamb Tagine

Place the cayenne, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 150C

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp of argan oil (optional) in a large casserole dish. Add the grated onion and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides then add the browned meat to the casserole dish. De-glaze the frying pan with a little tomato juice and add these juices to the pan.

Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas, flaked almonds, saffron and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for 2-2½ hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.

In a separate pot, boil water for the rice with a little salt and keep checking this while the lamb cooks. You can also cook a can of wet chickpeas until moist to add into the tagine.

Place the lamb in a tagine (or large serving dish) and sprinkle over the chopped herbs. You can also serve with a natural yoghurt dip on the side, made by finely chopping the de-stalked mint and mixing in with the yoghurt, sea salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, and some lemon juice (and zest if you like).