Tanjia marrakchia: secrets of the traditional slow-cooked recipe

Tanjia is the dish that cooks itself: you put the meat and spices in a clay jar, seal it and leave it in the embers for hours. In Marrakech it is taken to the hammam’s furnace; in the countryside we bury it in the embers of a wood fire. Here is the recipe and the video we filmed in the Chiadma countryside.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg beef or lamb (shank or shoulder is best)
• 2 preserved lemons
• One large spoon of smen
• One head of garlic, peeled
• One spoon of cumin
• A little pure saffron
• Salt to taste (go easy: the lemon is salty)
• 3 spoons of olive oil
• Half a glass of water

Method

1. Cut the meat into large pieces and put it in the tanjia.
2. Add the garlic, cumin, saffron, salt, smen, oil and the preserved lemon cut into pieces.
3. Add the half glass of water and shake the tanjia to mix everything.
4. Cover the opening with baking paper, tie it tightly with string and pierce a small hole.
5. Bury the tanjia in embers or hot ashes and let it cook for 4 to 6 hours, adding embers from time to time.
6. Take it out carefully, empty it onto a plate and serve hot with beldi bread.

Tips from the countryside

• Meat with bone and cartilage gives a thick, tasty sauce.
• Don’t add too much water: the meat releases its own juices.
• In another video you can see chicken tanjia, a lighter and quicker version.

See also

Rfissa with beldi chicken and meat tagine with prunes and almonds.