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1
Place the cayenne, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine.
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2
Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix.
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3
Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
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4
Preheat the oven to 150C
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5
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp of argan oil (optional) in a large casserole dish.
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6
Add the grated onion and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured.
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7
Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes.
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8
In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides then add the browned meat to the casserole dish.
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9
De-glaze the frying pan with a little tomato juice and add these juices to the pan.
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10
Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas, flaked almonds, saffron and honey to the casserole dish.
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11
Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for 2-2 1/2 hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.
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12
In a separate pot, boil water for the rice with a little salt and keep checking this while the lamb cooks.
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13
You can also cook a can of wet chickpeas until moist to add into the tagine.
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14
Place the lamb in a tagine (or large serving dish) and sprinkle over the chopped herbs.
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15
You can also serve with a natural yoghurt dip on the side, made by finely chopping the de-stalked mint and mixing in with the yoghurt, sea salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, and some lemon juice (and zest if you like).
