Ive finally made use of that tagine I bought in Morocco last year. My long time friend V, and I took a trip to Marrakech and the Sahara desert. The souks in Marrakech were an exotic labyrinth of shops and stalls. Thats where I bought this tagine. And thats where I found out V is an expert bargainer!

We walked into a tagine shop and V made the shopkeeper, a lanky teenager, pull out almost every tagine on his shelves. Exhausted, the kid sat down, anticipating a large sale. V bargained and bargained for her lovely green tagine. Then she bargained and bargained for my yellow one you see in the picture. After about half an hour of this, V simply walked out of the shop saying she didnt like any of the tagines!

The almost weeping shopkeeper/kid came running behind us. He gave us the tagines for less than a fourth of the original price!

My tagine recipe today is for V, the bargain queen

There is a little twist in this recipe; the zucchini is grilled. I saw Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America – battle zucchini – where he grilled up some zucchini and made a tagine out of it. Thats my inspiration for this dish. The grill marks make the zucchini look great.

Zucchini – 4
Onion – 1 large, diced
Garlic – 4 cloves
Cauliflower – 5-6 florets
Chick peas – 1 can
Saffron – pinch
Cumin – 1 1/2 tsp
Paprika – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Parsley – 2 tbsp chopped
Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp
Water or stock – 1 cup
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt

Wash and dry the zucchini. Trim the end. Slice it in two lengthwise. Brush some oil on the cut sides and grill on a very hot grill, just till you get the grill marks.

In the meanwhile, heat a large, heavy bottom pan. Add the oil and saute the onion till light brown. Then add the garlic, cumin, turmeric and paprika and saute one minute.

Arrange the grilled zucchini and cauliflower in the pan, sprinkle with salt. Pour in the water or stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered till the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the chick peas and saffron and simmer another minute. Turn off heat. Mix in lemon juice and parsley.

Serve with couscous or as our camel man served it in the Sahara desert – with crusty bread.