It’s cold outside (still) and I’m thinking of warming suppers for the week ahead when I remember a tagine I made on a cooking course a few years ago. There’s something about including dried fruit in a savoury recipe that I really love and I’d like to say the same about my children but it’s really only in these latter years that I haven’t been left with a row on prunes on the side of the plate.

This tagine has plenty of ginger which is an excellent spice to use in the cold.  It’s so warming and is a good circulatory tonic.  Any woman who’s suffered from morning sickness will vouch for its anti-emetic properties but did you know that it speeds up the emptying of the stomach so is an excellent digestive stimulant.  Chillies also act like an internal heater and prunes are a natural laxative.  There’s a lot going on in this recipe!

Blend the paste ingredients in a blender until roughly smooth (does that sound contradictory?).  Pre heat the oven to 200C.  Peel and then chop the vegetables into similar sized pieces.  Heat a little more than half the coconut oil in a large pan (a casserole is good) and brown the lamb.  In another pan heat the remainder.  When the meat is browned divide the vegetables, prunes and paste accordingly (I do this by eye when the vegetables are chopped but you divide the vegetables first and the chop) and add the chickpeas to the casserole without the lamb.  Add 250ml water to the lamb tagine and 120ml water to the chickpea casserole.  Cover and cook for 45 minutes to one hour in the oven. Check after half an hour or so and if it’s looking a bit dry add a little more water.

Quinoa goes really well with this, and you definitely need a green vegetable to make it look pretty.  Sprinkle with the mint as this gives it a nice little lift.