Mrouzia- for the sweet and savoury lovers

Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to: exe.chef@horizonmanor.comMrouzia is a traditional Moroccan tagine, or stew, eaten during Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, one of the most important religious Muslim days of the year. It is a sweet and spicy lamb dish that is very tender due to the fact that it is slow-cooked over an extended period of time. Moroccan cuisine is known for its fragrance and spiciness. Due to its position in the Mediterranean, Morocco’s culture and food incorporates a number of different styles — African cuisine, Mediterranean cuisine and Arab cuisine are combined into a delicious fusion of Moroccan tastes. Mrouzia is but one example of the hundreds of fragrant traditional Moroccan dishes.When cooking mrouzia, it is preferable to use a traditional tagine dish, which is made of clay, either glazed or unglazed. They consist of a large, round flat dish and a conical top that fits into the dish. It is designed in such a way that all the condensation formed during the slow cooking process falls back into the dish, which allows for an extremely moist and tender finished product when cooking in a tagine pot. The mrouzia is usually served directly from the tagine dish.Typically, mrouzia is cooked using lamb, but sometimes goat or beef is used too. Equal parts sweet and savoury, this dish is a long-cooking stew where lamb shares the stage with a host of spices. Lamb shoulder is the ideal stewing meat, its plentiful connective tissue will melt down during the braising process to thicken the sauce. The cooking time may vary depending on the type of meat used. The dish consists of the meat combined with onions, garlic, honey, almonds, raisins and a combination of spices, giving it a sweet and spicy flavour. Spices used, which are normally combined into a paste using a mortar and pestle and then rubbed on the lamb before cooking, include cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, cumin and turmeric.Traditionally the meat is not browned and all the ingredients, except for the raisins and honey are thrown together in the pot and left to cook at low heat for up to 12 hours or more. Some people also keep the almonds out for addition later, while others cook them with the rest of the ingredients. The honey and raisins are usually added at the end. The dish can also be cooked, less authentically, in a casserole dish or pressure cooker.The Muslim community is known for their charitable practices and Ramadan is no exception. It is tradition to ensure that no impoverished person goes without a meal at this special time in the Muslim calendar. Food, including mrouzia, is shared between everybody within the community. Lamb MrouziaServes 4IngredientsLamb cubes 1200 gmGinger, chop 1 tspBlack pepper crushed 1 tspMorocco spice mix 1 tbspSaffron few strandsWater ½ cupButter 6 tbspOnion, chopped 2 noGarlic, chopped 2 clovesCinnamon sticks 2 noChicken stock 5 cupsDried apricots, chopped 1 cupAlmonds, blanched 1 cupHoney 4 tbspCinnamon powder 1 tspParsley, chopped ½ cupCarrots 2 noBread loaf 1 noMethodIn a bowl combine ginger, morocco spice mix, saffron and water and mix well. Add lamb meat cubes and rub the paste evenly on it.Cover and refrigerate overnight. In a heavy bottom pot with lid, heat butter and add onion, garlic, cinnamon sticks, and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the marinated meat in the pot and chicken stock, cover the meat and simmer over slow flame.Skim if any scum or froth appears on top.Add water if the pot becomes too dry and stir occasionally to turn the meat in the pot.Simmer for 1½ hrs or until the meat is tender. Add apricots, blanched whole almonds, honey, diced carrots, cinnamon powder and simmer for 20- 25 minutes.The dish should not be too watery or too dry. Allow to cool and stir in freshly chopped parsley and serve with sliced bread loaf, steamed cous cous or rice.Note: Moroccan spice mix includes ginger powder, cinnamon powder, all spice, cloves, cardamom, black cumin, aniseed, coriander, cayenne pepper, lavender leaves, mace, nutmeg and turmeric. You can make your own spice by combining these or just can buy it ready made from hypermarkets. If you can’t find it, add equal quantity of Chinese five spice powder with a combination of available spices like ginger, cinnamon, cumin and coriander etc).