The unlikely but eventually harmonious marriage of Orange and Garlic

Like the priest who keeps a straight face despite the nagging premonition that the couple standing before him will not last, I managed to marry orange and garlic in a bold, new dish. Yes, I ran through the motions with complete seriousness and finally pronounced them co-ingredients. What can I say? It paid off. They’re still together.

I have an online food challenge to thank for this strangely experimental dish. Every week, the challenge urged you to throw completely disparate ingredients together while cooking. Spicy with sweet. Crunchy with soft. Tea with mushrooms. It called for wracking your head and pushing boundaries. It made cooking bold and unusual. Most of all, it was education by discovery. As for the end results, sometimes the fusion yielded an instant classic and sometimes it threw up a cropper. But, like me, if all you need is an excuse to cook, you’ll understand that the joy is as much in the jamming as it is in how it ultimately turns out.   

Before I reveal the recipe, a little about this dish. A tajine or tagine is a dish from North Africa. It is named after the special earthenware pot in which it is best cooked. Now I don’t own an authentic Moroccan tagine and chances are neither do you, unless you’re the erstwhile wife of a Moroccan prince. So be pleased to know that a saucepan gives results that are just as good. Now what I’ve done is combined a couple original recipes and made some tweaks. While I’ve chosen lamb, I reckon this should work very well with pork or beef too.

So happy experimenting. And should the garlic and the orange start to bicker on your palate, remember that thing your mother said about having to kiss a dozen frogs before you meet your knight.

Ingredients

• 1 kg boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups sliced onion
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• spice mix (you can roast a little and pound some of the below spices together to get the mixture. I find that very convenient)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chillies
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick, ground
• 2 cups water or chicken stock
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 cups orange sections (about 3 oranges)
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates or raisins or prunes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

Preparation

• Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add half the lamb; cook for 5 minutes or until lamb is browned. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining lamb
• In the same pan and in the remaining oil, add onion and sauté for 7 minutes or until tender. Add ginger, garlic and spice mix, stirring to combine. Sauté for 2 minutes
• Return lamb to pan; stir in water/stock and salt. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 90 mins or so, or until tender, stirring occasionally
• Uncover and simmer for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add orange sections and dates/raisins/prunes, stirring gently to combine, and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle fresh coriander and serve with some couscous.