Tajine with dates and almonds (Morocco)

  Ingredients (2 persons)                 Preparation

1	2 tab.sp.	Olive oil	1	Heat oil and butter in frying pan or pot
2	1 tab.sp	Butter	2	Add onions and “fruit” golden
3	2	Onions, chopped	3	Add spices and mix
4	2 tea sp.	Curcuma (curry)	4	Add meat; mix with oil / spices
5	1 tea sp.	Ginger, chopped	5	Add hot water till meat nearly submerged
6	1 tea sp.	Cinnamon	6	Heat till boiling
7	1 kg	Goat meat (w. bone)	7	Fire low, cover, simmer 2 hr
8		Hot water	9	Take meat, remove bone, cut in small pieces, back in pot
9	125 g	Dates, no stones	10	Add dates & honey
10	1 tab. Sp.	Honey	11	Salt, much pepper – to taste
11		Salt, black pepper
				The almonds
1	1 tab. Sp.	Olive oil	1	Heat oil in small frying pan
2	½ tab. Sp.	Butter	2	Add almonds; stir, fry golden
3	2 tab. Sp.	White almonds
4	Small bunch	Parsley

Suggestions for Serving:

Accompanying dishes: Couscous; Green salad with lemon dressing

Preparations for serving: Put tajine on plates; sprinkle with almonds and parsley

This is one of Hans' best recipes, and Andreas also loves it as he was born in Morocco. You need some fresh goat meat for this, so get the driver (e.g. Lawrence) to take you down to the market. The current (November 2011) cost of goat is 12,000 UGX/kg, up 20% from September... If you cannot find a goat, a sheep also tastes nice.

Chop up the onions, and fry in butter with a little oil.
The oil stops the butter from burning.

When the onions are golden, add two tea spoons of curry powder,

one tea spoon of ginger and cinnamon powder.

When the onions start to smell really deliceous,

add the meat and let it fry for a short time with the spices.

Ideally you should have a whole leg of goat, with the bone.
Here we improvised by adding just a bit of meat on the bone to meat cut into cubes,

in order to reduce the risk of death by bone splinters.

Add enough hot water to nearly submerge the meat.

Heat until it boils, and then let is simmer on a very low flame.

Time to prepare the dates and the almonds.

Cut the dates in half and remove the pits.

Chop up the almonds.

Now it's time to wait for at least two hours as the meat simmers.
You can also wait for four hours if you want it really tender.

While waiting you can enjoy the noise coming from the party next door....

...discuss the effects of excess noise on consultant's performance on Mondays...

...discuss the Euro crisis...

It is getting dark - time to check on the Tajine.

Remove any bones from the meat, and cut the meat into cubes.

Add the dates (pits have already been removed earlier).

Add the honey, salt and pepper.

Fry the almonds in some butter and olive oil until they are nice and brown.

Add almonds to the pot, and let it simmer for a while.

The dates will melt away, leaving a rich, sweet sauce.

Time to make the couscous:

1) Boil water with some oil and salt.

2) Add couscous and remove from fire.

3) When it has soaked up all the water, add some butter.

4) Put back on fire and mix well.

Load the plates.

Add some freshly chopped parsley ontop of the meat.

Enjoy your goat tajine with dates and almonds!

Happy birthday Hans!