Chickpea tagine with apricots recipe

Tagine actually refers to the ceramic pot with a funnel-shaped top that is used to cook this Moroccan-influenced stew, but you don't need any fancy or expensive equipment to make one! This recipe is for a quick, cheap and tasty tagine of spiced chickpeas, dried fruit and a warming, spicy sauce. It's best served with couscous, and can be made as mild or as spicy as you like. It's also incredibly easy to double up the quantities – why not make a batch for the freezer?

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1tblsp olive oil
• Splash red wine or apple juice
• 2 cans chickpeas in water (500g drained weight)
• 1tsp garam masala
• ½tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chili powder (optional)
• 500g passata
• 1tblsp crunchy peanut butter
• 75g dried apricots
• 50 mixed dried fruit
• 200g cous cous
• 1 stock cube
• ½ a lime
• Natural yoghurt to serve (optional)

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the onion. Cook it in the olive oil over a medium heat until translucent.
2. Add the spices, and cook for a minute more until fragrant. Turn up the heat and add the wine or apple juice.
3. Add the drained chickpeas, and cook for 2-3mins. Add the passata and reduce the heat. Cook for 5mins.
4. Stir in the peanut butter, and the chopped dried apricots along with the mixed dried fruit.
5. Boil the kettle, and put the couscous in a clear bowl. Sprinkle over a stock cube and the juice of half a lime, and stir.
6. Pour enough water into the cous cous bowl to just cover the couscous completely – you want about 2mm of water above the level of the couscous. Immediately cover with a plate, to keep the steam in.
7. After 5mins, remove the plate and fluff up the couscous with a fork.
8. Serve the cous cous and the tagine together, with some natural yoghurt if desired.