Baby Carrot Tagine with Yoghurt & Honeyed Pine Nuts

This unusual, subtly sweet and spicy carrot tagine is made wonderfully rich and tangy with the last-minute addition of yoghurt. Serve it with plain buttered couscous, Wedding Couscous or Mixed Spring Greens with Golden Raisins & Couscous. It is also delicious with Long-grain Rice with Lemon & Toasted Almonds. (Recipes for these serving suggestions can all be found in the New Feast cookbook.)

Ingredients

• 40 ml (1 1/4 fl oz) olive oil

• a generous knob of butter

• 1 large onion, finely grated

• 1 large carrot, finely grated

• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 400 g (14 oz) tin chickpeas, well rinsed and drained

• 400 g (14 oz) baby (or Dutch-style) carrots, with tops attached

• 600 ml (21 fl oz) vegetable stock

• 200 g (7 oz) natural yoghurt

• 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)

• 1 egg yolk

• 1/3 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves

Honeyed pine nuts

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 60 g (2 1/4 oz) pine nuts

• good pinch salt

New Feast by Greg & Lucy Malouf

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).

Heat the oil and butter in a large flame-proof casserole. Add the grated onion and carrot, the garlic, spices and honey. Sauté over a low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent and the carrot is meltingly soft.

Add the chickpeas and whole baby carrots, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the tagine from oven and transfer it to the stovetop over a medium heat.

In a small bowl, whisk the yoghurt with the cornflour and egg yolk. Add a big spoonful of the tagine cooking liquid to the yoghurt and stir it in well. Tip the yoghurt into the tagine, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Heat the butter and honey over a medium heat in a small frying pan. When the butter has melted, add the pine nuts and salt and fry for around 2 minutes until they turn golden brown.

Stir the coriander leaves into the tagine. Drain the pine nuts and sprinkle on top of the tagine as you serve it.