And her notion of minimal accompaniments. Serves 6

For the tagine

• 1.5 kilo of leg of lamb
• 1 red onion cut very fine
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 2 tsps cumin
• 2 tsps minced fresh coriander
• 1 large tomato grated
• 1 tsp Ras el Hanout
• I packet powdered saffron
• 2 tsps ground ginger
• Half a cup of Olive oil
• Salt
• 1 bay leaf

Delicious additions

• Almonds in their skins
• Prunes
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Oil

Chunk the lamb and tip it into a pressure cooker. Add all the other tagine ingredients up to delicious additions and give them a good stir. Brown, stirring from time to time, for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile put prunes in one little pan with water, and the almonds in another little pan with water, and set them both boiling – topping up the water as necessary – for around 20 minutes.

When the onion is soft and the meat sealed, add enough water to cover, put on the lid, and set the pressure cooker to hissing for something like 40 minutes.

Back to prunes and almonds – add 4 cubes of sugar, a tablespoon of oil and half a teaspoon of cinnamon to the prunes, and boil with the remaining water and the prunes to make a syrup. Peel the almonds and brown them in oil.

After 40 minutes open with pressure cooker with the usual caution, remove the lamb if it tender and stow in a warm oven while you boil the contents of the pan to reduce the liquid to an unctuous sauce.

Arrange on a platter, with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and the prunes and almonds scattered on the top.

Aubergine Salad

• 3 aubergines
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large peeled tomato
• Oil?
• 2 tsps fresh minced coriander
• 2 tsps salt
• 3 tsps paprika
• 2 tsps cumin
• Grate the first three ingredients into a frying pan, discarding the aubergine skin. Add the rest of the ingredients, and cook on a high flame, stirring, until the mixture becomes reddish/brown and amalgamated.
• Cool, and put on little plates, with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of coriander. Serve tepid or warm.
• Moroccan Tomato Salad
• 3 large tomatoes
• 4 long pointy green peppers
• Half an onion
• 2 tsps fresh minced coriander
• Pepper
• Olive oil to taste
• Salt

Roast the green peppers on the hob until they are black all over. While they cool, peel and deseed the tomatoes and cut into tiny dice. Peel the peppers under running water, and cut the flesh into narrow strips and then dice. Chop the onion very fine. Mix them all together with the rest of the ingredients.

Put on little plates in the fridge. Done

Courgette Salad – or carrot or parsnip

• 8 tiny courgettes, or peeled and sliced parsnips, or peeled cored and cubed carrots
• 1garlic clove
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsps minced fresh coriander
• 2 tsps ground ginger
• 2 tsps paprika
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Half a lime

Wash the courgettes and cut into coins. Boil with a little water for 15 minutes. (This goes for each kind of salad, though each veg is boiled separately). Drain well. Add to frying pan with all the other ingredients until they have blended into something like a sauce or dressing, making sure not to crush the veg.

Arrange on little plates with a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of coriander if you have it. Best tepid.

Potato suns

• 3 hefty potatoes
• 2 eggs
• Salt
• Fresh minced coriander (optional)
• Pepper
• Oil

Grate the spuds. Mix with the remaining ingredients except oil. Take golf ball sized handfuls and flatten them between your palms. Fry them in oil half a centimetre deep. Drain.