Tagine is a North-African stew and the word refers to both the food and the tool used to cook it in. A tagine is a type of heavy based casserole-type dish with a tall lid (that looks like a hat). The traditional ones are terracota coloured but nowadays in the street markets of Morocco you will come across an abundance of beautifully decorated tagines of all sizes and colours. Note – If you don’t have a tagine then you can make this dish in a deep pot or pan (with a cover).

Preparation time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 15 minutes.

Ingredients (serves 3 – 4 people)

• 2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into cubes
• 1/2 butternut squash peeled and chopped into cubes
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 1 white onion diced
• 1 tin of chickpeas (cooked)
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. cumin powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. cinammon
• 1 tsp. cayenne or chili flakes
• 1 cube of vegetable stock for broth
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 1.5 cups of water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation and cooking

1. Once you’ve chopped all the ingredients, fry the onions over medium heat in the olive oil with the sweet potato cubes for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the butternut squash cubes and the red pepper slices to the tagine, as well all the spices (cumin powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, chili flakes, salt and pepper) then mix to coat all the ingredients.
3. Pour the broth into the tagine (1.5 cups of boiling water with vegetable stock disolved into it) then stir and cover. Leave this to simmer over medium heat for 6-7 minutes.
4.  Add the chickpeas and lemon juice to the tagine, stir and cover. Leave to simmer for an additional 5 minutes (until the sweet potato and butternut squash are tender but not too soft otherwise it will become mash!).
5. Serve with Arabic white rice.