Instant Pot Lamb Tagine

The Instant Pot has opened a whole new world of dishes for me, things that would have usually taken way too long for a quick cook like me, now get done in minutes rather than hours. This Pressure Cooked Lamb Tagine is the perfect example. For this recipe I’ve taken inspiration from lovely reader and Facebook group members Nic and Amanda, as well as from the Hairy Bikers. Reader Jenny G has tested it for me and really enjoyed it so I’m hoping you will too. Fancy giving it a go?

This summer I have had more time in my hands than usual so I have had the chance to cook quite a bit and I am so glad as, with the cooler weather and shorter days round the corner, I reckon my Instant Pot is about to come into its own and I needed the practice.

How was your summer dear reader? Or your winter if you are down under. I have to say that the lack of school run has been rather welcome for me. That’s Reception Year out of the way and onto Year One we go next week.

Back to the Instant Pot, don’t forget to use and reuse that Keep Warm function for dishes like this and that the convenience of the Instant Pot resides in that you can decide at the last minute whether you pressure cook or slow cook or even do a combination of the both. You know, since life can be quite unpredictable!

Don’t forget to come join the Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas Facebook group for inspiration. You’l find all my Instant Pot recipes here (all with familiar UK ingredients and measurements).

Instant Pot Pressure Cooked Lamb Tagine

Ingredients

– A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or oil of your choice, about a tablespoon

– 850 g to 900 g lamb leg, diced

– 3 teaspoon ground cumin
– Half teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch more for luck
– 1 teaspoon medium curry powder

– 2 medium onions, halved and sliced (or 4 if they are quite small)
– 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

– 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes

– 3 tbsp clear honey

– 400 g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or of course your own prepared Instant Pot chickpeas from dry). One way of making them: Kirrin’s Kitchen’s no-soak method, with 250 g / 2 cups of dry chickpeas and water up to the halfway mark, is 30 minutes on Manual (you can always freeze any cooked unused chickpeas for next time).

– 1 lamb stock cube

– 1 medium sweet potato (approx. 300 g), diced, not too small

– 75 g no-soak dried apricots (you can use normal ones and soak them by covering them in boiling water for 10 minutes)

– 100 ml water

To serve
– fresh flat leaf parsley
– lemon zest

Method

Before you start, this moves fast so a good way to get organised and keep up the pace is to have all the ingredients ready beforehand.

1. Press Sauté and Adjust to High, add a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and, when it says Hot on the screen (Instant Pot 7 in 1), add the lamb, the 2 sliced onions and the chopped garlic and sauté until coloured, stirring regularly. Add the spices and mix really well while it sautés for approximately 2 more minutes.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes, the 3 tablespoons of honey, the chickpeas, the sweet potato, the apricots. Crumble the stock cube on top. Give it all a good stir to mix well. Add about 100 ml water. There will be plenty of liquid already in the pot, if you think that it needs a bit more, add it.

3. Lock lid in, make sure the vent is sealed, press the Meat/Stew button and then the minus (-) button to set the time to 15 minutes, let it go to Keep Warm at the end and let it release naturally (about 15 minutes). If after this time the silver pop-up valve hasn’t dropped, do a quick release. You can, of course, let it stay on keep warm on the Instant Pot so that it’s ready.

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