Lamb Tagine with Prunes & Almonds

Toss the lamb with the ginger, turmeric, pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, saffron and salt, and leave it 15 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot or tagine over medium heat and brown the lamb on all sides, in batches, about 8 minutes per batch.

💡 Do not crowd the pot. Meat packed in tight releases water and boils grey instead of browning — and that brown crust is most of the flavour in a dish this simple.

Lift the lamb out and add the sliced onions to the same pot with the butter.

Cook the onions 10 minutes over medium heat, scraping up the brown bits stuck to the base as they release their water.

💡 Those stuck brown bits are concentrated lamb. Getting them off the base and into the onions is free flavour — if the pot looks clean, you have not scraped enough.

Return the lamb, add the cinnamon stick, the herb bundle and the 500 ml water. It should come about halfway up the meat.

💡 Halfway, not covered. This is a braise, not a boil — the exposed meat concentrates while the submerged half tenderizes.

Bring it to a boil, then drop to the lowest possible simmer, cover, and cook 2 hours.

💡 The barest blip every few seconds is what you want. A rolling boil tightens lamb into strings — collagen needs low heat and time, and there is no shortcut that works.

While it cooks, toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until golden, then set aside.

Toast the sesame seeds in the same pan for 1–2 minutes, until they smell nutty and start to hop.

At 2 hours, check the lamb: it should be falling off the bone under a fork.

💡 If it resists at all, give it another 30 minutes. Lamb that is 'nearly there' at 2 hours will be perfect at 2.5 and there is no penalty for waiting.

Meanwhile put the prunes in a small pan with the honey, 1 tsp cinnamon and 100 ml water.

Simmer the prunes gently 10–12 minutes, until they are plump and the liquid has become a dark syrup.

💡 Cook the prunes separately and add them at the end. Two hours in the tagine and they dissolve into brown mush — you want whole, glossy fruit sitting on top.

Fish the herb bundle and cinnamon stick out of the lamb and discard them.

Uncover, turn the heat to medium and reduce the sauce 10–15 minutes, until it thickens and clings to the meat.

💡 This is the step that makes it a braise rather than a stew. Keep going until a spoon dragged across the base leaves a trail that holds for a second — that is the sticky, glossy tagine you are after.

Taste and adjust the salt, then spoon the prunes and their syrup over the lamb.

Scatter over the toasted almonds and sesame seeds and take it to the table with bread.