Moroccan Cuisine: Tagine

So I've been meaning to write you guys these recipes and now seems like a decent time :) Tagine is one of the first meals I ate in Morocco. Tagine is actually an earthenware pot that is used for cooking and serving food. It comes in all different sizes but generally looks like a shallow pot with a conical lid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagine I finally sat down with one of my friends the other day and asked if she could tell me her recipes. 

Now here's a photo of my mom eating tagine in Casa. 

Good luck with your tagine experiments!

Chicken Tagine:

Begin with a low temperature for the tagine. If possible, use something metal or a surface to separate the tagine from the heat. If not, place tagine on burner or in the oven.

Put a generous amount of oil in the bottom of the tagine, something like ¼ inch. Then you can crush one tomato to give the base some water. Now you saute the chicken in the oil once it is hot. Add spices to taste:

pepper

salt

saffron-a small small pinch. A little goes a long way.

Turmeric-to give that yellow color

Ginger

2 cloves of garlic

parsley

There's no wrong or right way to do this. Every house has a different recipe, so go experiment.

Then once all of that has been added, stir the mixture well into the tagine and on the chicken.

Now you remove the chicken for a moment to place veggies onto the bottom of the tagine.

First place sliced carrots and onions to line the bottom of the tagine. Then replace the chicken on top of the veggies. On top of the chicken you can add peppers, peas, lemon slices, green or black olives, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Place top on tagine. Check every 10 minutes. Add water if necessary. Cooks for about an hour.

Meat Tagine:

Begin the tagine in the same way except add ras l'hanut (a combination of spices specifically from Morocco, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_el_hanout), cumin, parsley, cilantro, and a very little bit of red pepper flakes. Add more onion slices this time than the chicken.

Before you add the vegetables this time, cook the meat longer to make sure it is really cooked by the time you add the vegetables.

Check every 10 minutes. Add water if necessary. Cook for about an hour.

Fish tagine:

Begin by crushing 3 tomatoes, 3 onions, and a LOT of garlic. Like, a whole bowl full of garlic -3 bulbs. Squeeze a lemon over the fish. Add pepper, salt, turmeric, cilantro, ginger, ras l'hanut, and parsley. Mix it together and put in a pan to bring to a simmer. Let the mix cool. Then cut the fish up, rub the mix in well.

Heat up a tagine, layer the bottom with ¼ inch oil, potatoes, bay leaves, carrots, and celery. Place the fish on top of the vegetables, then put peppers, tomatoes, lemons, cumin, green onions, and pepper over the fish. Cover and cook, checking every 10 minutes. Cooks very quickly, so no more than 20-30 minutes. (My friend wasn't more specific about cooking times than that...sorry)

Alright, let me know what you think of these recipes! Remember there's no right or wrong way to do this, so you can't mess up. :) Enjoy, or as we say here in the Maghreb, BssHa!