Halal-conscious recipe
Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon and olives
The Good Food team's Moroccan meatball tagine: Halal lamb meatballs with lemon zest, cumin, cinnamon and parsley simmered in a saffron, ginger and chilli sauce with Halal or vegetable stock and kalamata olives.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Photo: Kim Scarborough · CC BY-SA 2.5
Why Halal checks matter here
The meatballs are 500 g of minced lamb, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and they simmer in 250 ml of lamb stock, which is a meat product.
This tagine simmers walnut-sized meatballs of lamb, lemon zest, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and parsley in a sauce of onion, ginger, chilli and saffron with lemon juice, stock, tomato purée and kalamata olives. Coriander and the squeezed lemon quarters go in for the last 10 minutes. The source describes it as a North African lamb casserole. Two things need a Halal source: the lamb mince, and the lamb stock, for which a Halal-certified stock or a vegetable stock works (see stock cubes).
It follows the Good Food team's Moroccan meatball tagine for BBC Good Food, which serves four. A large flameproof dish works as well as a tagine with a lid.
Serve hot with couscous or crusty bread.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Minced lamb Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and mince without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the mince from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
- Lamb stock Bought lamb stock is a meat product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified meat or fat. Use a Halal-certified lamb stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
Safe substitutes
- Minced lamb of unknown slaughter → Halal minced lamb
- 250 ml lamb stock → 250 ml Halal-certified lamb stock or vegetable stock
Allergens
none
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 3 onions, peeled (half for the meatballs)
- 500 g Halal minced lamb
- 1 unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced, then quartered
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch cayenne pepper
- small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- pinch saffron strands
- 250 ml Halal-certified lamb stock, or vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 100 g pitted black kalamata olives
- small bunch coriander, chopped
- to serve couscous or crusty bread
Method
- Make the meatballs. Blitz the onions in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix the lamb with the lemon zest, spices, parsley, half the onions and some seasoning by hand until well combined, then shape into walnut-sized balls.
- Soften the aromatics. Heat the oil in a large flameproof dish or lidded tagine and add the rest of the onions with the ginger, chilli and saffron. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft and starting to colour.
- Simmer the meatballs. Add the lemon juice, stock, tomato purée and olives and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs one at a time, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes, turning them a couple of times.
- Finish and serve. Uncover, add the coriander and tuck the lemon quarters between the meatballs. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes more, until the liquid has reduced and thickened slightly. Serve hot with couscous or crusty bread.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon & olives' by the Good Food team, which describes it as a North African lamb casserole (serves 4: 3 onions blitzed finely in a food processor; 500 g minced lamb mixed by hand with the zest of an unwaxed lemon, 1 tsp each ground cumin and cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, a small bunch of chopped parsley, half the onions and seasoning, shaped into walnut-sized balls; the rest of the onions, a thumb of grated ginger, a deseeded chopped red chilli and a pinch of saffron cooked 5 minutes in 2 tbsp olive oil in a large flameproof dish or lidded tagine; the lemon juice, 250 ml lamb stock, 1 tbsp tomato purée and 100 g pitted kalamata olives brought to the boil; the meatballs added one at a time, covered and cooked 20 minutes on a lower heat, turned a couple of times; a small bunch of chopped coriander and the lemon quarters tucked in, uncovered 10 minutes more; served with couscous or crusty bread). We specified Halal minced lamb and a Halal-certified lamb stock or a vegetable stock; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon & olives — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By the Good Food team, described as a North African lamb casserole. Serves 4, prep 25 minutes, cook 40 minutes: lamb, onion, lemon zest, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and parsley meatballs simmered covered 20 minutes in onion, ginger, chilli, saffron, lemon juice, stock, tomato purée and olives, then 10 minutes uncovered with coriander and lemon. We specified Halal lamb and stock.
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Tagine analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What to check in a tagine: the meat and the stock.