Hope you guys have had a good week! I have started mine on an even keel, with everything coming together just fine, to crash down on Thursday and remain in a funk on Friday. Nothing big has happened, it’s just that my inner critic, which I’ve been trying to distance myself from a while now, went on a total rampage and got me impossibly down.

I’m so glad that I had the foresight to shoot this recipe earlier on in the week as the second part of the week turned out to be a total write off. As it’s been rather cold around these parts lately, I made a warming and comforting (yet healthy) tagine featuring jackfruit and chickpeas and a beautiful North African spice mix known as baharat (derived from the Arabic word for spice). As it’s a spice mix rather than a single spice, its ingredients and proportions may vary a little from cuisine to cuisine or even household to household, but they tend to include warming spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, paprika, allspice and black pepper. I purchased mine in my local corner store, which boasts an impressive collection of dry spices from all over the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India, but I have also seen a version of this spice mix in supermarkets so I am sure you will be able to get some with ease.

This recipe is inspired by a dish I had while visiting London in October. While I spent most of my time in London covered in paint and dust, I did manage to sneak out for a few low key meals with friends before another lockdown got announced. One day I met up with my friend Elie in beautiful Regent’s Park (oh how I miss that place!) and we had a lovely time chatting while sitting 2 meters apart from each other at far ends of the same bench and munching on a take away lunch. Mine was a vegan tagine box from LEON and I really enjoyed it, especially that it brought a touch of comfort to not the most relaxing al fresco lunch experience (it was too cold to eat outside for a start!) and I promised myself to recreate it in my own kitchen once I get back.

While the dish is enjoyable on its own, it really benefits from a drizzle of zhough, which LEON made with mint and parsley, but I personally prefer coriander, or coriander and parsley. It comes together in minutes and it makes a great addition not only to this particular dish, but also to pita pockets, hummus and salad bowls. I also recommend the addition of finely chopped quick-pickled (or preserved) lemons. They provide a beautiful contrast to the aromatic date-sweetened sauce and are just as versatile as zhough, especially if you are a fan of these sort of flavours.

Making quick-pickled lemons at home is easy and quick (I used this recipe) and once they’ve had a chance to hibernate in the fridge for a day, they really come into their own and give this dish a beautiful pop of flavour and colour too. I am pleased with the flavours here and I hope you’ll enjoy them too.