Moroccan Vegetable Tagine with homemade vegetable stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry for 8 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns golden.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 4
   Add the cumin, turmeric, paprika, ginger, cinnamon, chili pepper, salt and black pepper and stir.
2. 5
   Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.

   Stove
3. 6
   Put the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a large pot with the cold water.

   Large pot

   💡Start with cold water: the vegetables release their flavor slowly as the water heats up.
4. 7
   Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam.

   Stove
5. 8
   Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered 30–45 minutes.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
6. 9
   Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

   Fine sieve
7. 10
   Add the carrot, sweet potatoes and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
8. 11
   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

   StoveLid
9. 12
   Add the zucchini, chickpeas and raisins and cook another 15 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender.

   Stove

   💡Hard vegetables (carrot, eggplant) go in first, and zucchini only toward the end of cooking: that way they're all tender and none fall apart.
10. 13
    Sprinkle the cilantro on top.
11. 14
    Serve the stew with couscous.