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 Pruneaux et Amandes
Created by
The Andalusi wedding tagine: lamb shoulder braised until it gives under the spoon, prunes glazed dark with honey and cinnamon, toasted almonds scattered over a sauce made for bread.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Celebration
Special Occasion
Holiday
30 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•3 hr total
Yield6 servings
This tagine belongs to the table that has already made room for more people than it planned. The lamb sits low in the pot with grated onion, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, and a small hand of ras el hanout, then time takes it. When it's ready, the meat doesn't need a knife. It lets go under the spoon.
The prunes are not thrown in and forgotten. You soften them apart, glaze them with honey and cinnamon, then bring them back to the lamb so the sweetness shines on the surface instead of burning at the bottom. That is the rule that protects the dish: honey late, always late.
This is celebration cooking from the Andalusi-citadin register, the sweet-savory language of Fez, Rabat, Salé, Tetouan, and the wedding table, but you can make it today in a heavy pot. Serve it from the center with toasted almonds, sesame if your table likes it, and round khobz for the sauce. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open, and this dish knows how to hold it open.
Tagine d'agneau aux pruneaux et amandes belongs to the citadin sweet-savory register of Morocco, especially Fez, Rabat, Salé, Tetouan, and Marrakech, where wedding tables favor meat softened with dried fruit, honey, cinnamon, and almonds. That grammar is older than the modern tagine: 13th-century Andalusi cookery records meat cooked with fruit and sugar, and after 1492 Andalusi families carried those habits across the Strait into Moroccan cities already shaped by Marinid Fez. The exact written date for this prune tagine is not fixed, but its place at celebrations is clear.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in lamb shoulder, neck, or shank
Quantity
1.5 kg
cut into large serving pieces
onions
Quantity
2 large
grated
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
crushed
olive oil
Quantity
3 tbsp
smen or unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tbsp
saffron threads
Quantity
1 generous pinch
bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water
ground ginger
Quantity
1 tsp
ground turmeric
Quantity
1/2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 tsp
ras el hanout from a trusted merchant (optional)
Quantity
1 tsp
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
water
Quantity
600ml, plus more as needed
pitted prunes
Quantity
350g
honey
Quantity
3 tbsp
added near the end
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1 tsp
orange blossom water (optional)
Quantity
1 tsp
blanched almonds
Quantity
120g
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Quantity
1 tbsp
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in lamb shoulder, neck, or shankcut into large serving pieces | 1.5 kg |
| onionsgrated | 2 large |
| garlic clovescrushed | 3 |
| olive oil | 3 tbsp |
| smen or unsalted butter | 1 tbsp |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp warm water | 1 generous pinch |
| ground ginger | 1 tsp |
| ground turmeric | 1/2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
| ras el hanout from a trusted merchant (optional) | 1 tsp |
| cinnamon stick | 1 |
| sea salt | 1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste |
| water | 600ml, plus more as needed |
| pitted prunes | 350g |
| honeyadded near the end | 3 tbsp |
| ground cinnamon | 1 tsp |
| orange blossom water (optional) | 1 tsp |
| blanched almonds | 120g |
| toasted sesame seeds (optional) | 1 tbsp |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5 liter braising pot or 32 cm clay tagine with heat diffuser
- •Small saucepan for glazing prunes
- •Wide serving platter or tagine base
Instructions
- 1
Bloom the saffron
Crush the saffron threads into the warm water and leave them 10 minutes, until the water turns deep gold. In a wide bowl, mix the grated onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, salt, the saffron water, and the ras el hanout if you have an honest one.
With ras el hanout, on ne triche pas, you don't cheat. If your blend is tired or nameless, leave it out and let ginger, saffron, cinnamon, and black pepper carry the pot. - 2
Season the lamb
Add the lamb and work the spiced onion into every piece with your hands, especially around the bones and fatty edges. Let it stand 30 minutes at room temperature, or cover and chill up to 12 hours. The onion will look too wet. It should; it becomes the body of the sauce.
- 3
Start the pot
Warm the olive oil and smen in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the lamb with every bit of spiced onion and cook 8 to 10 minutes, turning the pieces until the raw onion smell softens and the spices smell warm. Add the cinnamon stick and enough water to come halfway up the meat, about 600ml, then bring it to a gentle simmer.
- 4
Braise it low
Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, turning the lamb every 30 minutes. The liquid should move in slow bubbles, never a hard boil. Add a splash of water only if the sauce threatens to dry before the meat is tender enough to yield under a spoon.
If you use a clay tagine, set it over a heat diffuser and keep the flame low. Clay likes patience and cracks with sudden heat. - 5
Reduce the sauce
Lift the tender lamb to a warm plate. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 15 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onions nearly disappear and the oil shines at the edges. Taste for salt. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes: stop when the sauce coats a spoon.
- 6
Glaze the prunes
Put the prunes in a small saucepan with a ladle of tagine sauce, or 120ml water if the sauce is still reducing. Simmer 5 minutes, then add the honey and ground cinnamon. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, shaking the pan, until the prunes swell and the syrup clings to them. Honey goes in now, not at the start, because it scorches long before lamb becomes tender. Stir in the orange blossom water off the heat, if using.
- 7
Toast the almonds
Toast the blanched almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, moving them often, until pale gold and fragrant. If you use sesame, toast it separately for a minute or two. Sesame burns before almonds are ready.
- 8
Serve from center
Return the lamb to the reduced sauce for 5 minutes so it shines again. Arrange the meat on a tagine base or wide platter, spoon the sauce over it, and settle the glazed prunes around the pieces. Crown with toasted almonds and sesame. Put it in the middle of the table with round khobz, because the sauce is half the gift.
Chef Tips
- •Choose lamb with bone and a little fat. Lean cubes tighten before the sauce has time to become itself.
- •Use real saffron threads and bloom them first. The powdered yellow is not saffron, and it gives you color without perfume.
- •Give the prunes their own small pan. If they cook with the lamb for two hours, they collapse and muddy the sauce; glazed late, they stay whole and glossy.
- •Preserved lemon is beautiful in other tagines, not this one. Here the brightness comes from saffron and the floral edge of orange blossom water, if you use it.
- •Serve this with khobz for the sauce. If couscous is also on the table, it is the centerpiece, never a neutral side: steam it in passes, never boil it, or you make porridge instead.
Advance Preparation
- •Season the lamb up to 12 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Bring it out 30 minutes before cooking so the chill leaves the meat.
- •The lamb and sauce can be cooked 1 day ahead through the reduction. Chill the meat in its sauce and rewarm gently over low heat.
- •Glaze the prunes and toast the almonds close to serving so the prunes keep their shape and the almonds keep their bite.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
855 calories
Total Fat
58 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
37 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
720 mg
Total Carbohydrates
56 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
34 g
Protein
36 g
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