I am excited about this recipe, it was a joint venture created with my husband and a huge success with everyone coming back for seconds. The meat was not cooked for long, yet was so tender and melted in your mouth. All the elements and textures seemed to work well together, from the lamb tagine, to the subtle taste of the cous cous, the chutney and even with the side of pappadums made it even more fun for the kids.
We love using the tagine, unfortunately we don’t use it as much as we should. With the cooler weather setting in I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pull it out again. If you don’t have a tagine, you could still cook this dish in the oven, transfer to an oven proof dish with a lid after browning the meat. The pear chutney recipe is made in the Thermomix, though if you don’t have a Thermomix, you could possibly make it in a saucepan, (though I haven’t tried it).
2 tablespoons rice bran oil
1 Leek, thinly sliced
8 Whole garlic cloves
6 Lamb Chops, or enough to feed your family
2 x tablespoons Veg Stock mixed with 1 cup water
2 cups pear chutney
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 x Potatoes, diced into approx. 1cm chunks
¾ cup Green beans, fresh or frozen
2 teaspoons cornflour mixed with a little water.
First make the pear chutney, you will find the recipe for that here.
Add oil to tagine and heat on a medium high heat. Add half the leek and garlic (Leave the garlic whole) and cook for a few minutes. Add the lamb chops and brown on each side (cook in batches if necessary), remove the chops and set aside.
Place the rest of the leeks into the tagine and allow to cook for a minute. Add stock, chutney, chickpeas and potato. Cover and bring to the boil, add meat and reduce heat. Simmer for 40 minutes. Add beans and cornflour, stir. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
Saffron Cous Cous
1 cup cous cous
10 saffron threads
1/4 teaspoon citric acid
Fresh chives, chopped
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon nuttelex / butter
Place cous cous into a bowl with the fresh chives and citric acid. Place the saffron into a 1 cup measure and pour in a little of the boiling water over the saffron to release the flavour and colour for a minute. Fill completely with boiling water and pour over the cous cous. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add nuttelex and fluff with a fork.
To serve, spoon cous cous into a ½ cup measure and turn out onto the plate. Dish the lamb tagine beside it and extra pear chutney on the side. We had pappadums with ours and that made it a hit with the kids, a perfect accompaniment.
Notes: I loved the cous cous with only 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid, when we made it a second time, my husband preferred it with 1/2 teaspoon. Depends upon how “lemony” your taste is.
Really keen to try this, sounds delicious. Do you know what brand of pappadums are failsafe? I can only find ones with spices and my kids love them. Thanks
Hi Cathra, I usually try to use the Globes brand plain pappadums. The ingredients are Lentil Flour, Salt, Yeast & Rice Flour. We haven’t had a problem or reaction to these ones. I usually cook them in the microwave for about 45 seconds.
Thanks will have to see if I can find them
What type of cous cous do you use? Don’t they all contain rosemary? Is that failsafe?
Hi Bronwyn, I use the San Remo plain cous cous that comes in a 1kg box, the only ingredient is durum wheat semolina. There are many packets of cous cous around now that have herbs in or are flavoured, just make sure you buy the plain one. It is usually found in the pasta section of the supermarket.