Chef Zohra
Poulet M'hammer aux Amandes (دجاج محمر)
A celebration chicken simmered low in saffron onion sauce, browned until golden, then carried to the table with fried almonds scattered over the top.
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Tagine d'Agneau aux Coings
Created by
A cold-month Fassi tagine where lamb braises slowly, quinces turn amber at the edges, and honey joins late so the sauce shines instead of burning.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
30 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•2 hr 45 min total
Yield6 servings
When the first quinces arrive in late autumn, hard and yellow with that perfume between apple, pear, and rose, this is the tagine I want on the table. Don't buy them tired. No gesture rescues a sad quince, and here the fruit is not decoration, it's the second voice of the dish.
The lamb cooks first, slowly, with onion, ginger, cinnamon, bloomed saffron, and a little honest ras el hanout if your merchant can tell you what's in it. Avec le ras el hanout, on ne triche pas, with ras el hanout, you don't cheat. The quinces are poached apart until tender, then glazed in honey and butter at the end, because raw quince is stubborn and honey burns before lamb becomes soft.
This is festive food, but not stiff food. Set the tagine in the center, tear the khobz, let everyone reach for a piece of lamb and a wedge of quince glossed with sauce. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open, especially when the cold months come.
Tagines pairing meat with fruit belong strongly to the Andalusi-citadin cooking of Fez, Marrakech, and other old urban kitchens, where medieval trade brought sugar, cinnamon, saffron, and dried fruits into savory dishes. Quince itself was known around the Mediterranean long before Islam, and in Morocco it became a cold-season fruit for lamb, chicken, and preserves. The exact dating of lamb with quinces is contested, but its grammar is clearly tied to the sweet-savory register that flourished in Moroccan imperial cities from the Marinid period onward.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
lamb shoulder or neck
Quantity
1.4 kg
cut into large pieces
quinces
Quantity
3 large
washed, cored, and cut into thick wedges
onions
Quantity
2 large
grated
olive oil
Quantity
3 tbsp
smen or butter
Quantity
2 tbsp
ground ginger
Quantity
1 tsp
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1 tsp
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
turmeric
Quantity
1/2 tsp
ras el hanout
Quantity
1 tsp
freshly ground if possible
saffron threads
Quantity
1 generous pinch
bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water
honey
Quantity
2 tbsp, plus 1 tbsp more if needed
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 tbsp
optional, for glazing the quinces
lemon juice
Quantity
1 tbsp
for holding the cut quinces
blanched almonds
Quantity
1 small handful
toasted
sea salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
water
Quantity
600ml, plus more as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| lamb shoulder or neckcut into large pieces | 1.4 kg |
| quinceswashed, cored, and cut into thick wedges | 3 large |
| onionsgrated | 2 large |
| olive oil | 3 tbsp |
| smen or butter | 2 tbsp |
| ground ginger | 1 tsp |
| ground cinnamon | 1 tsp |
| cinnamon stick | 1 |
| turmeric | 1/2 tsp |
| ras el hanoutfreshly ground if possible | 1 tsp |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp warm water | 1 generous pinch |
| honey | 2 tbsp, plus 1 tbsp more if needed |
| sugar (optional)optional, for glazing the quinces | 1 tbsp |
| lemon juicefor holding the cut quinces | 1 tbsp |
| blanched almondstoasted | 1 small handful |
| sea salt and black pepper | to taste |
| water | 600ml, plus more as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy clay tagine or wide braising pot with lid
- •Shallow pan for glazing quinces
- •Small bowl for blooming saffron
Instructions
- 1
Season the lamb
Put the lamb in a wide bowl with the grated onions, ginger, turmeric, ras el hanout, saffron water, salt, pepper, olive oil, and half the ground cinnamon. Work everything into the meat with your hands until the onion and spice cling to every piece. Let it sit 30 minutes if you have time, the spice needs a little patience to enter the meat.
Use saffron threads bloomed in warm water, not yellow powder. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes, but the ingredient must be honest first. - 2
Start the braise
Warm the smen or butter in a heavy tagine base or braising pot. Add the lamb with all its onion and spice, then cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, turning the pieces until the meat loses its raw look and the onion begins to melt into the fat. Add the cinnamon stick and 600ml water, cover, and lower the heat to a quiet simmer.
- 3
Cook until tender
Braise the lamb for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, turning it now and then, until a fork enters easily and the sauce has thickened around the onions. If the pot dries before the lamb softens, add a small splash of water. Don't drown it, a tagine wants a sauce that gathers, not a soup.
- 4
Poach the quinces
While the lamb cooks, keep the quince wedges in water with the lemon juice so they don't darken too fast. Put them in a separate pan with enough water to barely cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, until a knife slides in but the wedges still hold their shape. This matters: quince is hard and proud, and if you ask the thick tagine sauce to soften it from raw, the lamb will wait too long.
- 5
Glaze the fruit
Lift the quince wedges into a shallow pan with a ladle of lamb sauce, the honey, the remaining cinnamon, and the optional spoon of sugar if the fruit is very sharp. Simmer gently until the wedges turn amber at the edges and the glaze clings to them. Keep your spoon soft here, quince can go from tender to broken quickly.
- 6
Finish the tagine
Taste the lamb sauce. It should be savory first, then sweet at the edge, with saffron and cinnamon clear but not loud. Arrange the glazed quinces over the lamb, spoon some sauce over the top, and simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes so the two sauces meet.
- 7
Serve together
Scatter the toasted almonds over the tagine and bring it to the table in the pot if you can. Serve with round khobz for scooping. If you make couscous alongside it, steam the grain in passes and never boil it, or you've made porridge instead of the mountain the meal is built on.
Chef Tips
- •Quince season is autumn into early winter. If the fruit has no perfume, cook a different tagine today, lamb with prunes or lamb with artichokes when their season comes. The market always has an answer.
- •Buy ras el hanout from a merchant who'll tell you what's in it. A tired pre-ground tin will flatten the sauce, and with ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
- •Honey goes in late with the quinces, not at the beginning with the lamb. It should glaze and shine, not catch on the bottom before the meat has surrendered.
- •Preserved lemon belongs beautifully to other Moroccan tagines, but not every tagine needs it. Don't add fresh lemon here to chase brightness; the quince gives the sharpness.
Advance Preparation
- •The lamb can be braised one day ahead and chilled in its sauce. Glaze the quinces and finish the tagine the day you serve, so the fruit keeps its shape.
- •Toast the almonds up to 2 days ahead and keep them covered at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
690 calories
Total Fat
44 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
25 g
Cholesterol
155 mg
Sodium
720 mg
Total Carbohydrates
35 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
21 g
Protein
41 g
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