With its gloriously deep flavours, hint of spiciness, fruity overtones and meltingly tender meat, this tagine ticks all the boxes. The rose petal pickle is the icing on the cake – it cuts through the richness of the tagine and adds a pop of colour. Serve this with your favourite couscous or cauliflower rice, laced with fresh herbs, olive oil and lemon juice.

SERVES 6–8 | GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE

ROSE PETAL PICKLE
1 cup fresh, unsprayed rose petals (or use
⅓ cup dried)
1 cup white wine vinegar
3 tbsp light-flavoured honey
2 tsp sea salt

TAGINE
olive oil
3 onions, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp cinnamon
1½ tbsp ground turmeric (or fresh, grated)
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 large shoulder of lamb, cut into big
bite-sized chunks (1.3kg of meat in total)
600ml tomato juice
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes
100g flaked almonds
60g sultanas or raisins
120g dried apricots, halved
60g dates, pitted and halved
1½ tsp saffron stamens
700ml lamb stock or bone broth
a squeeze of runny honey
handful of parsley, roughly chopped
handful of coriander leaves

To make the rose petal pickle, place the petals in a glass or ceramic bowl.

Place the vinegar, honey and sea salt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the honey and salt, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Pour over the petals and leave to sit at room temperature for 15–20 minutes, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat your oven to 150°C.

Place a large, heavy-based, lidded casserole dish on the stove over a high heat. Pour in a few tablespoons of oil, allow to heat for a minute or two and then add the onion and garlic. Fry, stirring, for 5 minutes then add the spices and continue to fry for a further 3–4 minutes. Set aside.

In a separate large frying pan, heat a little more oil over a medium to high heat and brown the lamb chunks on all sides, in several batches so that they don’t crowd the pan. Transfer each batch to a bowl when browned.

Next, add half of the tomato juice and stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add this mix, along with the browned lamb, to the casserole dish containing the onion and spices.

Add all the remaining ingredients except the coriander to the casserole dish. Place the lid on the dish, place it in the oven and cook for 2½ hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender.

Serve sprinkled with coriander and add a teaspoon of rose petal pickle per serving.

Recipes reproduced with permission from
Wild Delicious by Amber Rose
Photography by Greta Kenyon and Claire Mossong
Published by Random House NZ

LAMB TAGINE WITH ROSE PETAL PICKLE