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 de Viande aux Figues
Created by
Lamb or beef braised until tender, then glossed with plump figs, honey, cinnamon, and saffron. This is the Andalusi sweet-savory grammar, generous enough for a full table.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Celebration
Special Occasion
Holiday
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•2 hr 40 min total
Yield6 servings
When the dried figs swell in the sauce, you see the dish begin to understand itself. They drink the saffron broth, soften at the edges, and give back their honeyed weight until the meat and fruit are no longer separate things. This is celebration food, the kind of tagine you put down whole at the center of the table and let everyone approach with bread.
Take the meat slowly first. That is the rule that protects the dish. If the honey goes in too early, it darkens before the lamb or beef has surrendered, and then you taste scorch instead of depth. Let the meat become tender in onion, ginger, saffron, and cinnamon, then add the figs and honey near the end so the sauce turns dark and glossy, not burnt.
Use good dried figs, soft enough to bend, not hard little stones. Use saffron threads bloomed in warm water, not yellow powder. If your ras el hanout comes from a merchant who tells you what is in it, a small spoon can sit beautifully here. Avec le ras el hanout, on ne triche pas, with ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
Serve it with khobz to lift the sauce, or with couscous as the mountain the meal is built on. If you make couscous, steam the grain in passes over the broth and never boil it. A table is a door you leave open, and this tagine was made for one more hand reaching in.
Meat with dried fruit belongs to the Andalusi-citadin register that took deep root in Fez, Rabat, Tetouan, and other Moroccan city kitchens after the medieval exchanges between al-Andalus and the Maghreb, especially from the 13th to 16th centuries. Figs came through both local Moroccan orchards and older Mediterranean trade routes, while saffron, cinnamon, ginger, and honey mark the festive sweet-savory grammar shared by Fassi, Andalusi, and Jewish-Moroccan tables. The exact dating of fig tagines is not fixed, but the method belongs clearly to the long Moroccan habit of making meat, fruit, spice, and time speak together.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
lamb shoulder or beef chuck
Quantity
1.5 kg
cut into large pieces
onions
Quantity
2 large
grated or very finely chopped
olive oil
Quantity
3 tbsp
smen or unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tbsp
ground ginger
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 tsp
ground turmeric
Quantity
1/2 tsp
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1 small
saffron threads
Quantity
1 good pinch
bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water
ras el hanout (optional)
Quantity
1 tsp
from a trusted spice merchant
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
water or light meat broth
Quantity
500ml, plus more as needed
soft dried figs
Quantity
300g
stems trimmed
honey
Quantity
2 tbsp, plus 1 tsp more if needed
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1 tsp
orange blossom water (optional)
Quantity
1 tbsp
blanched almonds
Quantity
75g
fried or toasted until golden
sesame seeds
Quantity
1 tbsp
toasted
round khobz
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| lamb shoulder or beef chuckcut into large pieces | 1.5 kg |
| onionsgrated or very finely chopped | 2 large |
| olive oil | 3 tbsp |
| smen or unsalted butter | 1 tbsp |
| ground ginger | 1 1/2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 tsp |
| ground turmeric | 1/2 tsp |
| cinnamon stick | 1 small |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp warm water | 1 good pinch |
| ras el hanout (optional)from a trusted spice merchant | 1 tsp |
| sea salt | 1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste |
| water or light meat broth | 500ml, plus more as needed |
| soft dried figsstems trimmed | 300g |
| honey | 2 tbsp, plus 1 tsp more if needed |
| ground cinnamon | 1 tsp |
| orange blossom water (optional) | 1 tbsp |
| blanched almondsfried or toasted until golden | 75g |
| sesame seedstoasted | 1 tbsp |
| round khobz | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy clay tagine, 30 to 32 cm, or wide heavy braising pot with lid
- •Small bowl for blooming saffron
- •Wide serving tagine or communal platter
Instructions
- 1
Bloom saffron
Put the saffron threads in 3 tablespoons of warm water and leave them for 10 minutes, until the water turns deep gold and smells floral. Powdered yellow color will not give you this perfume, and this dish needs perfume as much as color.
- 2
Season the meat
In a wide bowl, mix the meat with the grated onions, olive oil, smen, ginger, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon stick, bloomed saffron with its water, salt, and ras el hanout if using. Work it with your hands so the onion and spice cling to every piece. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes, but the meat should look evenly stained and smell warm before it touches the pot.
If you have 1 hour, cover the bowl and let the meat rest. If you don't, cook it now. The long braise will still carry the flavor through. - 3
Start the braise
Set a heavy tagine base or wide braising pot over medium-low heat. Add the meat and all its onion-spice mixture, then cook for 10 to 12 minutes, turning the pieces until the onion softens and the meat loses its raw red color. Do not rush this beginning. The onion is becoming the body of the sauce.
- 4
Cook until tender
Pour in 500ml water or light broth, bring it just to a gentle bubble, then cover and lower the heat. Cook lamb for about 1 hour 30 minutes, beef for about 2 hours, turning the pieces now and then and adding a splash of water if the pot looks dry. The meat is ready for the figs when a fork goes in without argument but the pieces still hold their shape.
- 5
Prepare the figs
While the meat cooks, put the dried figs in a small bowl and cover them with warm water for 15 minutes if they feel firm. Drain them well. They should be plump and bend easily, because a hard fig stays hard in the mouth no matter how beautiful the sauce looks.
- 6
Glaze the sauce
When the meat is tender, add the drained figs, honey, and ground cinnamon to the pot. Leave the lid slightly ajar and simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes, spooning sauce over the figs once or twice. This is the one why that decides the dish: the honey goes in late so it glazes instead of burning.
- 7
Reduce and finish
Lift the meat and figs carefully to a warm platter if they are ready before the sauce is thick. Boil the sauce gently until it turns dark, glossy, and coats the back of a spoon. Stir in the orange blossom water if using, then taste for salt. Sweetness without salt goes flat.
- 8
Serve together
Return the meat and figs to the sauce, or arrange them in a warmed tagine with the figs nestled around the meat. Scatter over the golden almonds and toasted sesame. Bring it to the table whole, with round khobz for the sauce, and let people serve from the center.
Chef Tips
- •Choose figs that are soft, fragrant, and a little sticky at the cut edge. If they are pale, dusty, and hard, cook something else today. No gesture rescues a tired ingredient.
- •Ras el hanout is optional here, but if you use it, buy it from someone who'll tell you what is in it. With ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
- •This tagine can be lamb or beef. Lamb gives a softer, rounder sauce; beef gives a deeper one and usually needs another 30 minutes.
- •Preserved lemon belongs proudly to other Moroccan tagines, and when a dish calls for it you use preserved, not fresh. This fig tagine doesn't need that brightness; its grammar is saffron, ginger, cinnamon, honey, and fruit.
- •If you serve couscous with it, make couscous properly: steam the grain in passes. Wrap a damp cloth around the couscoussier seam because it traps the steam, and steam is the only thing cooking the grain.
Advance Preparation
- •The meat can be seasoned up to 12 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it close to room temperature before cooking.
- •The full tagine can be made 1 day ahead. Reheat it gently with a splash of water, then add the toasted almonds and sesame just before serving.
- •Toast the almonds and sesame earlier in the day and keep them dry, uncovered, so they stay crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
1155 calories
Total Fat
70 g
Saturated Fat
25 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
40 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
1110 mg
Total Carbohydrates
78 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
35 g
Protein
53 g
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