Dishes in tajine - a range of tastes and aromas that are difficult to convey in words! Once you have tried this cooking method, they will forever fall in love with this perfection of culinary art. In tazhin dishes never burn - food is steamed at the same time, stewed in its own juice and fried, and without excess fat. Next, you will get acquainted with the most popular recipes for dishes in this dish.
Is it a dish or dishes?
It is assumed that the name "tajin" comes from the dish of the same name. From ancient times in the countries of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania) it was customary to cook a traditional dish with this name. Gourmets from around the world have appreciated this "Maghreb miracle." Classic tajine is a combination of lamb meat on the bone with vegetables, spices and dried or fresh fruits. Also, often the dish is complete without the addition of nuts and honey. Well, of course - special dishes are required - tajin!
Dishes prepared in tajine are distinguished by a special aroma and unique tenderness: they can only be eaten with lips. And such food is characterized by sweetness, as they like to cook in African countries. In ancient times, before the spread of potatoes, people used rice as a vegetable base. It turns out that the oldest dish in tajine is pilaf with the addition of sweet ingredients! Next, you will get acquainted with one of the recipes of African origin.
Bell pepper pilaf
To prepare this dish in Tajine you will need:
- 200 grams of sweet pepper;
- 2.5 cups of rice;
- 5 glasses of water;
- 70 grams of vegetable oil;
- 3 tomatoes;
- 1 onion;
- allspice, herbs, salt - to taste.
We start cooking. Before you start cooking a sweet dish in the tazhin in the oven, you must thoroughly rinse the rice under hot water.
Pour the oil into the dishes, fry the rice to a yellowish tint. Add sweet pepper sliced in small cubes, slices of tomatoes without skin, mix and fry everything for several minutes. We put in the mixture passivated onions, allspice, salt and pour water (you can broth). Cook the pilaf over low heat for 15-30 minutes in the oven. It is necessary to ensure that rice does not boil.
The subtleties of cooking dishes in tazhin
Photos of such dishes show them incredibly mouth-watering. It is interesting that, as is customary, you need to remove the lid from the tazhin three times: during the laying of vegetables and fruits, for the introduction of spices and when serving. However, this process can be greatly simplified. If the dish in tajine according to the recipe includes only vegetables and fruits, the lid is removed only once, when served. By the way, this diet delicacy is popular in France. They call it "vegetable paradise." Let's plunge into French weekdays with the following recipe.
Vegetable paradise in French (recipe for tajine dishes with photo)
For cooking, you need to take:
- 1 zucchini;
- 1 eggplant;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 2 sweet peppers;
- one onion.
Marinade for the dish is prepared from the following ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil;
- 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar;
- pepper, salt - optional;
- 1 chili pepper (preferably in oil);
- 1 sprig of rosemary (in oil);
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tablespoons of fat sour cream.
To serve take:
- 1 pack of mozzarella cheese
- fresh herbs to taste.
We start cooking dishes in tajine according to the recipe “Vegetable Paradise”.
We wash our vegetables. We cut into rings eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions and peppers (no more than 1 cm), put everything in a bowl. We prepare the marinade by mixing all its components. Pour the chopped vegetables with the cooked marinade, let them stand for 3-4 minutes.
We spread the vegetables in turn in a circle of tazhin - we should get a multi-colored "accordion". Spread on top rosemary, chili, chopped garlic, pour on top with the remains of our marinade.
Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. Serve with slices of mozzarella cheese and herbs to taste on a large dish.
Bon appetite!
Interesting notes
Traditionally, of course, tajine should be served in the dishes in which it was prepared. However, this rule does not apply to large cast iron tazhin designed for a large number of servings.
In ancient times, this ware was only ceramic, now their base is poured from metal. But at home, such innovations are not approved: real tazhin should be made of ceramics, Africans say.
Curious: handmade dishes, which were brought to us from the Maghreb countries, are decorated with sacred patterns. For religious reasons, it is believed that the beautiful design of the appearance of food helps to strengthen the family, charges with longevity and good health, fertility and wealth in accordance with the value of the amulet. A culinary person who plans evil, can bring misfortune to those who will be destined dishes, so you need to approach cooking with a clean and light heart.
By the way, there are more than one thousand recipes in Tajine (in the oven). But the most favorite type of tajine among tourists is Moroccan lamb. You can find the Moroccan dish in tajine not only in restaurants, but also on the street and markets - in Morocco this is another attraction for gourmet travelers.
Moroccan Tajine
We will need:
- 700-800 grams of mutton on the bone;
- 2-3 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil;
- 2 pieces of red onion;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- a small piece of ginger root;
- 2 cinnamon sticks;
- 2 teaspoons coriander;
- 12 pieces of pitted prunes;
- zest of half an orange;
- 1.5 tbsp. tablespoons of dark honey;
- ground black pepper, salt - at the discretion;
- cilantro, boiled couscous - for serving.
First you need to soak dried apricots and prunes. Pour the oil into the tazhin, warm to medium temperature, add the crushed almonds and fry until golden brown, stirring constantly. Add chopped onion and garlic, fry until transparent and soft. Add finely grated ginger, cinnamon, coriander, mix and spread the pieces of lamb. Everything should be mixed until all meat is covered with onions and spices on all sides.
Fill it with water - the meat should be completely covered with liquid and stewed over medium heat under a lid for one hour. Next, add dried apricots, orange zest and prunes and simmer for about half an hour. Then add salt, pepper, honey, mix thoroughly, leave it on fire for another 10-15 minutes.
After cooking, serve to the table with bread (it can be dipped in sauce) and couscous as a side dish. Separately, it is worth serving dishes with chopped cilantro.
What other dishes can be prepared?
As the practice of many world culinary traditions shows, in tazhin you can cook almost anything! If desired, you can use meat or fish of any kind, seafood, vegetables and fruits. Of course, the process is quite lengthy, but delicious taste more than covers these time costs.
In fact, tazhin is an analogue of a traditional Russian pot.
Next, we will look at another recipe that includes one of the little secrets of making perfect roast. Complete with fresh tomatoes, the potato always remains solid, no matter how much we languish.
Turkey with lemons
Salted lemons are a must in the next course. It is customary to stock up on this ingredient in advance. By the way, in Maghreb countries such seasoning is quite actively used in the preparation of many dishes. Local residents, and tourists alike, are delighted with this recipe. It's time for you to get acquainted with one of such dishes - turkey with salted lemons.
According to the recipe, you can cook in both portioned and general tazhin.
To prepare 4 servings, you must take:
- 700-800 grams of turkey fillet;
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil;
- 1 shallot;
- 2-3 cm of ginger root;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 3 tomatoes;
- 800-900 grams of potato;
- to taste spices - turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, zira;
- half a chili pepper;
- olives - optional;
- greens for serving.
Lemon Salting:
- 5 pieces of lemons;
- 10 teaspoons of salt.
Cooking turkey in tajine
Lemons are usually harvested in 2-3 weeks in advance: the fruits are thoroughly washed, cut lengthwise into four parts (not completely), 1 teaspoon of salt (preferably sea) is added to each of the cuts, then the lemons are packed in a sterilized jar and closed with a vacuum lid .
We start cooking.
We heat vegetable oil in tazhin, fry chopped onions, grated ginger and garlic until transparent.
Then add the peeled potatoes in slices, spices and chopped turkey, pour two or three tablespoons of the broth or water, close the lid and simmer over low heat until the potatoes are ready (about 30 minutes).
Next, pour tomatoes with boiling water and peel them. Cut and add to the tajine along with the juice. We take salted lemon, cut it into small slices and also add it to the tazhin with juice. The turn of olives has come - everything is purely individual here (far from all favor this product). Salt and pepper to taste, simmer everything for about 25-30 minutes on a low heat. Serve to the table with herbs.
Tajine selection
In Maghreb countries, ceramic products are used that are sometimes processed with glaze. Unprocessed ones have to be pre-soaked overnight, otherwise cracks may form. When choosing cookware, make sure that it has a thick and heavy bottom. It is this feature that will allow you to choose a good product that guarantees repeated use without visible damage. If you need to put ceramic tazhin on the stove - the presence of a divider here will be a prerequisite. And even if you use a glass-ceramic stove, turning on a strong fire is unacceptable!
It is also worth following the rules of cooking in the oven. The ceramic tazhin is heated with the oven and gradually builds up heat. It is also necessary to pay attention to the following factor - there should be a small hole in the tajin dome, otherwise excess steam can reset the lid during cooking. If this is not available, make a hole with a diameter of 2-3 mm at the jeweler.
In no case should you cook in decorative tazhin with decorations and a thin bottom. They may include silver or semiprecious stones that are not suitable for heating.
If you are the proud owner of an exclusive ceramic tableware, save it for serving. So you can save the scenery. The safest is the tazhin with a cast-iron bottom. You can even cook casseroles and homemade bread in it! By the way, we will make a stop on homemade bread.
Bread "as before"
For cooking, take:
- a pound of baking flour;
- a quarter of 1 tsp yeast
- a pinch of salt;
- half a liter of water.
We start to cook.
Sift flour into a deep, wide dish, add yeast and salt, mix, add water. Mix everything to a homogeneous substance. Then cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 12 hours. After that we form the bread preparation, heat the oven to 230 degrees, carefully shift the preparation into tazhin and bake for about half an hour with the lid closed. We open the lid, make the fire quieter and continue the oven until a brown crust forms for another 15 minutes.
Chicken with quince according to the recipe of Stalik Khankishiyev
The famous culinary specialist shared his recipe for this dish in tajine. As mentioned earlier, sweetness in combination with a meat dish allows an explosion of taste sensations. Perhaps, having tried the following recipe, you will forever fall in love with tajine!
According to the author of the dish in tajine, Stalik Khankishiyev, the taste of the dish directly depends on the material of the dishes. Therefore, instead of the usual cauldron, he prefers to use traditional tazhin.
Get to the point
We proceed to culinary tests following the example of Stalik
First, fry the chicken until golden brown directly in the tazhin: put it on the fire, pour the oil, immediately spread the chicken. The recipe for a tajine dish with this particular bird is the most common.
A little trick: it is better to lay chicken breasts under the thighs, since the breast is dry, and the thighs are the juiciest part of the chicken. As Stalik Khankishiyev responds, putting these parts in such a tandem allows you to achieve perfect cooking.
From chicken, fry only wings, hips, breasts, legs. Everything else will go into the broth and stuffing for quince.
Next, we begin to fry the onions - fry in oil in large pieces. Then the carrots are fried in large slices in the same place (it just needs to be seasoned with a mixture of ground spices and sugar to taste). Next, the carrots are salted and garlic cloves are added to it.
On top of onions and carrots, spread the meat parts and quince stuffed with meat trimmings (6 halves of the fruit).
After adding the ingredients, fill the tajine with broth. The main thing here is not to overdo it.
The most correct cooking mode in the tajine is the long languishing of the dish over low heat for one and a half hours (during this time the mixture of components will never even boil). But, as Stalik says, such a sheepskin is worth its work - the taste is excellent: rich, rich and so homely.