, Step by step
Vegetable and chickpea tagine
A fantastically tasty vegetarian dish you can prepare in an hour.
Method
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Step 1
Heat the oven to 150°C. Add a little oil to a medium pan, then add the red onion and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the cumin, cinnamon and turmeric and cook for a further minute. Add the harissa paste and garlic.
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Step 2
Add the aubergine, courgette and squash and mix into the spices. Then add the apricots, chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock and coriander stalks and bring to a simmer. Finally, add the chickpeas.
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Step 3
Place the tagine into a large ovenproof dish with a lid and cook in the oven for 50 minutes at 150°C.
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Step 4
While the tagine is cooking, prepare the couscous according to the package instructions and keep warm.
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Step 5
Remove the dish from the oven. To serve, place some couscous mixed with the coriander leaves into bowls, top with some of the tagine and scatter the pomegranate seeds on top. If you like natural yoghurt, spoon some on as well.
Nutrition
Chickpeas, which are classified as pulses (dried seeds), are a great ingredient for tagines, stews, curries and, of course, houmous.
They are a really ancient food source. There is evidence that they were cultivated as food in Neolithic times in Turkey and later in ancient Greece. Today, the biggest worldwide producer of chickpeas is India at over eight million tonnes annually, with Australia in second place at around 800,000 tonnes.
Chickpeas are a common ingredient of Mediterranean and Asian dishes. Gram flour, used in Indian cuisine, is made from them. Dried chickpeas need to be soaked and cooked for quite a long time, but the canned versions are perfect for most recipes and much more convenient—choose the ones in water, not brine.
Chickpeas are a great source of nutrition—rich in protein and fibre and also providing iron, zinc and other minerals, as well as some B vitamins.
DR JULIET GRAY, COMPANY NUTRITIONIST
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