This village tagine is usually served with freshly griddled flatbreads, or a warm crusty loaf. If you use canned chickpeas and steam the spinach ahead of time, the tagine takes only 15–20 minutes – ideal for a quick lunch or supper!
1 tablespoon ghee, smen or argan oil, or 1 tablespoon olive oil plus 1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
250 g/1 2⁄3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1–2 teaspoons ras el hanout
500 g/1 lb. 2 oz. spinach, steamed and roughly chopped
2–3 tablespoons thick, creamy yogurt
½ teaspoon paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Serves 3–4
Heat the ghee in the base of a tagine or in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onion, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and sauté until they begin to colour. Toss in the chickpeas, coating them in the onion mixture, and stir in the ground turmeric and ras el hanout. Add the spinach and 150 ml/2⁄3 cup water. Put the lid on the tagine and cook over gentle heat for 10–15 minutes.
Season the tagine with salt and pepper, swirl in the yogurt, dust with the paprika and serve immediately.
This recipe is from The Modern Tagine Cookbook by Ghillie Başan. To get more great blog posts like this one - direct to your inbox – be sure to sign up to our mailing list here.