Seven Vegetable Tagine

We’ve taken a chicken tagine from Jeff Smith’s 1990 The Frugal Gourmet on our Immigrant Ancestors (ISBN 978-0688075903) and converted it to a vegan delicacy.  Besides turnips it also features onion, garlic, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, carrot, and tomato – all things that you will have in your garden.  We’ve substituted the meat with spiced chickpea flour and bulgur fritters, and you’ll want to add these in right before serving so that they do not dissolve into the stew. 

½ cup fine bulgur, covered in cold water
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, minced, in all
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced, in all
1½ teaspoons freshly ground cumin, in all
1½ cups onion, chopped, in all
5 cloves garlic, minced, in all
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup besan (gram) flour, mixed into a paste with ½ cup water
¼ cup olive oil, in all
1 pound eggplant, cut into 1” dice
3 cups stock
3 inches stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ral el Hanout or curry powder
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into ½” dice
1 medium zucchini, cut into ½” dice
1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into ½” dice
1 medium red bell pepper, seesed and cut into ½” dice
2 cups tomato, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
½ cup golden raisins

Let bulgur soak for 20-30 minutes until tender.  Drain though a colander, pressing to extract as much water as possible.  Place 2 tablespoons parsley, 1 tablespoon cilantro, ½ cup onion, 2 garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoon cayenne and ½ teaspoon salt into a blender.  Process to make a smooth-ish paste.  Add in the bulgur and besan flour paste. 

Heat olive oil in a heavy pan over medium.  When the oil comes to temperature, drop in 1 tablespoon balls of the spiced bulgur mixture.  Allow to pan fry until golden brown on one side, about 5-8 minutes.   Flip over the balls and cook on the other side until they are also golden brown.  Remove from oil and reserve.

Pour remaining oil into a 6-8 quart casserole.  Heat to medium, and add in the remaining onion, garlic, and eggplant.  Sauté until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes.  Add in stock, cinnamon sticks, ras el hanout / curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, and remaining cumin.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the carrot, zucchini, turnip, and bell pepper.  Allow to come back to a simmer and cook another 10 minutes.  Add in the tomato, raisins and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add in the remaining parsley, cilantro, and the fried bulgur patties, and heat through. 

Serve hot over couscous. 

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