Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Caramelized Prunes

Celebrity chef Hanane Ouaddahou is bringing the flavors of her beautiful country — Morocco — on the Iftar table. Here's a recipe that would surely spice up your Iftar table during the Holy Month of Ramadan. You can cook it at home or you can try it out at Fairmont Fujairah Beach Resort Canvas' dinner buffet.

Ingredients (serves 4 people):

1 kg Shoulder lamb, cut into three inch pieces
1 medium onion, grated or finely chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Moroccan smen
1 tbsp of spice mix
2 medium pieces of cinnamon sticks
¾ tsp salt
Pinch of sugar
Parsley and cilantro bouquet
350 ml water
Cook the prunes
500 grams pitted dried prunes
200 ml water
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp honey
25g butter
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp orange blossom water
Dressing
2 tbsp toasted golden sesame seeds
Handful blanched and fried almonds
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Portion of Spice Mix for Lamb Tagine with caramelized prunes
• 1 Cinnamon
• 1 Turmeric
• 1/4 Black pepper
• 2 ground Ginger
• 1/2 Saffron
• 1/4 Nutmeg
• 1/4 Cloves
• 1/4 Mastic
• 1/4 Mace
• 1/8 Carvi
• 1/4 Dried flowers

Method
• In a pot, put the meat with the onion, garlic and oil. Brown the meat for 2 minutes over medium heat
• Add the spices, the herb bouquet, ghee or smen and water
• Cover and let it simmer over medium heat until the meat is very tender and breaks away easily from the bone. Discard the herb bouquet
• During this time, put the prunes in a small pot and cover with water. Add sugar, honey, salt, cinnamon, butter and orange blossom water
• Simmer the prunes for 15-20 minutes until they are sitting in a thick syrup.
• Put the meat on a large serving dish or a tagine dish and garnish with prunes on top
• Mix a little of the meat sauce with the prune syrup and pour over meat
• Cut the boiled eggs in half and arrange them around the edges
• Sprinkle the sesame seeds and the almonds
• Serve the tagine homemade bread