Help please..Nigella's Moroccan Lamb with Dates

jeannieb3

I have ventured into Moroccan Cooking for the first time using Nigella’s recipe with lamb and dates from the You Magazine. Got quite excited and even browsed the internet for the best tagines…..
Had a “taster meal” yesterday and the rest is sitting in the freezer for use later this week with friends. But I was disappointed with the taste! No zing… is Moroccan food more on the sweet side and slightly uninteresting? Have not tried it before. Nigella’s red onion relish was delicious however and was a very necessary extra both on top and with the finished main dish.

Any suggestions on how to make to make it a bit more exciting before I present it?

The only difference I had to make to the ingredients was using a carton of pineapple drink (and omitting the water) as I could not find pure pineapple juice in my local shops.

Fen1

You could add a teaspoon or 2 of harissa paste to the mixture - important to let it slowly cook through the reheated dish, or it will taste raw.

Not having seen the recipe myself, but you could try serving it with cous cous topped with salty almonds. VV moreish. In a non-stick pan, quickly fry whole blanched almonds, a very little light oil, and salt.

floyd

I was about to suggest harissa, I made a moroccan chickpea soup yesterday using a BBC Good Food recipe and it just didn't have any punch to it until I put the harissa in.